What If?
by Hidge
Summary: AU. Set 3 years before the start of the show. Our beloved profilers are assembled for National Security purposes. Contains all of the main characters from all 3 seasons. Elle/Reid, Hotch/Prentiss, and Morgan/Garcia flirting. Team-centric! Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Extremely AU! Set 3 years before the show started but may contain character spoilers for all 3 seasons. Possibility for various pairings, haven't firmly decided yet. Make a recommendation in a review :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 1 – The Recruits**

_Georgetown, Washington D.C._

_Pentagon Bunker_

Ten men sat around a table all exchanging nervous looks and awkward glances until finally, the man at the head of the table spoke. "Any ideas gentlemen?"

There was a long silence until the youngest and most inexperienced man at the table cleared his throat. "Uhhh sir," he began self-consciously, "I was thinking that we could assemble a special task force." He looked up from the files that he held in his hand and noticed looks of approval from his colleagues. "Umm like an explosives expert, linguistics expert, computer and communications."

His superior nodded. "So you're thinking basically the most brilliant minds in the country?"

"Umm yeah, basically sir," the young man responded.

"Okay Lincoln that's your job."

The young man excitedly jumped up out of his chair. "Yes sir, I'm on it!"

"The rest of you," the man at the head of the table spoke sternly. "I want to see some reasons why you should keep your jobs. I want a safe house ready. I want the blueprints of every building in Georgetown. I want detailed maps of the whole D.C. metropolis. I want communication with the CIA and a watch list." He got up out of his chair and made his way towards the door. "And remember gentlemen," he turned around and addressed his team, "this is strictly classified and do not raise the terror alert. The last thing that we want is mass hysteria."

-----------------------

Two days later…

Joseph Lincoln scurried into his small office and sat down at his desk. He had been researching night and day, having slept only two hours and he finally narrowed it down to a list of nine names. He picked up his phone and pressed number two on his speed dial which was his link to FBI Headquarters. "Hello, this is Joseph Lincoln at the Pentagon, I need the following names in D.C. by nightfall, can you do that for me?" He heard the female voice on the other end say yes so he proceeded. "Retired Agent David Rossi, Agents Jason Gideon, Aaron Hotchner, Dr. Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, and Elle Greenaway. I also need civilians, Jennifer Jareau and Penelope Garcia. Thank you," he added politely before he hung up the phone.

He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. A lot of responsibility was placed on him for he was the one who had handpicked the nine people who the fate of the country depended on.

-----------------------

Lincoln stood on the opposite side of the two-way mirror and peered into the conference room where his nine recruits were sat around a long rectangular table. None of them had exchanged words or greetings for they had been brought here without any explanations.

He looked around at the nine faces and saw various expressions. Rossi looked agitated, Gideon calm and Hotchner inquisitive. The less experienced agents were more curious. Morgan drummed his fingers on the table anxiously; Prentiss was sitting up straight, prepared to work, and Greenaway portrayed impatience. The other three were tense. Dr. Reid was nervously sweating, Penelope Garcia looked frightened, and Jennifer Jareau seemed confused.

He almost jumped out of his skin when his boss, Colonel Byron Frost, barged into the room, slamming the door behind him. "Lincoln! This is who you brought me to save the country?" He asked angrily.

"Uhh what do you mean sir?" He asked stuttering.

Frost flipped through the files in his hands. "A retired FBI agent, a washed up profiler and his 21-year-old assistant, a family man, three inexperienced agents in their twenties, and two civilians, one of which is on the FBI's computer hackers alert list!"

Lincoln quickly recovered from being yelled at and began to defend his choices. "Agent Rossi started the BAU, the man is extraordinary. Agent Gideon is not washed up, he still is the BAU's best profiler, and his 21-year-old assistant, as you so disrespectfully put it, is _Dr._ Spencer Reid. He has an IQ of 187 and possesses three PhDs; he is probably the smartest man in the country. Aaron Hotchner may have a wife but he was a valued SWAT member, we're going to need him. And two of the three so called "inexperienced" agents are your explosives expert and your linguistics expert. Agent Greenaway has only been in the FBI one year, yes, but she has solved 46 of the 48 cases handed to her. _46_ of _48_! That's unbelievable! Jennifer Jareau is known as the best public relations person in New York City and yes, Penelope Garcia is a hacker _but_ what would you rather have, her hacking their system or her hacking our system?" He took a deep breath and composed himself. "Sir," he began quietly, "you asked for the most brilliant minds in the country and here they are, on the other side of that glass."

Meanwhile……

The occupants of the conference room were growing intolerant. They were all anxious to know why they were here, and all for different reasons.

A cell phone call had interrupted David Rossi's fishing trip. He politely obliged to make the trip to D.C. if they provided him with a renewed FBI badge and a firearm. They gave their word so here he was in a pair of blue jeans, a light blue dress shirt, and a brown, suede jacket. He had been in early retirement for almost three years now, writing best selling novels and speaking on the lecture circuit. He had made millions of dollars but he was excited to get back to work. But now he was growing impatient since him and these other eight people, two of which were his ex-colleagues, Jason Gideon and Aaron Hotchner, had been in this room for almost twenty minutes.

Aaron Hotchner turned his phone in his pocket repetitively. He wanted to know the reason why he was here so he could inform his wife, Haley, how long he would be gone. He had simply received a message from his superior, Jason Gideon, saying that they were wanted in D.C. He assumed that it was important business so he dressed in his usual suit and tie. He had acknowledged Rossi with a nod upon entering the room but all of the women and the African-American male were new to him.

Elle Greenaway sighed heavily and crossed her legs in her chair. She was annoyed that she had been pulled off a serial rapist case in Seattle because her supervisor was informed that her presence was requested in D.C. She was very confident in her abilities but she had absolutely no idea why anyone outside of her field office would want her for an assignment; she was still a rookie, a highly successful and respected rookie but a rookie all the same. She discreetly overlapped the collar of her red blouse. She had left the top button undone but she was now self-conscious about this fact seeing that the cute guy with the glasses was staring at her. She glanced towards him and shot him a small smirk; he immediately blushed and turned away. She looked down at her hands and smirked to herself, he was _really_ cute.

Dr. Spencer Reid fidgeted nervously in his chair. He shifted back and forth in an effort to get comfortable and he clung to the strap of his messenger bag. He recognized three other people sitting at this table, everyone else were strangers. He was sat in between his mentor, Jason Gideon, and his co-worker, Aaron Hotchner, and he recognized BAU legend, David Rossi sitting across from him. He had to use all of his restraints to keep his mouth shut so that he didn't start asking Rossi questions about his books. The overwhelming female presence also made him uncomfortable. Here he was a 21-year-old virgin sitting at a table with four attractive women. He thought about girls enough all ready and this didn't help. He particularly noticed the woman sitting at the head of the table, close to Hotch. She had long, dark brown hair and matching brown eyes. She looked irritated but she was still strikingly beautiful. She wore a pair of fitting, black dress pants, and a red blouse, on which she had left the top button open. He knew that if he occupied Hotch's position he would have a hard time tearing his eyes away from the spot where her skin just below her collarbone was exposed. He blushed profusely and turned his head in the opposite direction when she glanced his way and caught him staring at her. When he looked back at her, out of the corner of his eye, she had a small, self-satisfied smirk on her face.

Emily Prentiss remained poised in her seat, taking the time every now and then to make sure that her slimming, black business suit and navy blue blouse were wrinkle free. As an ambassador's daughter, she had picked up a few useful things from her mother. Such as, whenever Washington called it meant that they had a task for you but it was never good. But if they did have a job for her then she was excited to get to it because it would mean that she would get to work with David Rossi and Jason Gideon, who were also sitting at this table. She hung her head, looked down at the table, and awkwardly tucked a piece of her shoulder length, black hair behind her ear. She had unintentionally caught the eye of the handsome, African-American male sitting across from her. She quickly diverted her attention towards the engagement ring on her left hand, smiling to herself as she thought of her fiancé.

Derek Morgan turned his gaze towards the ceiling. He wished he had something to occupy himself. He was in a room with eight, silent strangers with nothing to do but ask himself questions regarding why he was here in the first place. He had come here straight from the Chicago field office and therefore remained in his work clothes, a black suit and a white, pinstriped dress shirt. He looked at his watch and saw that it was 10:36 P.M. He felt like he was being interrogated, he had been told to sit in this room and now they were seeing hold long he could wait. He was determined to remain calm and composed, he didn't want anyone to think that they had an edge over him.

Penelope Garcia's eyes quickly darted from one person to the next. She was nervous, to say the least, to be in a room with several law enforcement officials, judging by the guns on their hips. She wondered why she was here; she definitely did not fit into this group, with her long, blonde hair with blue streaks, tie-dyed shirt, and yellow, summer skirt, not to mention the fact that she was known as the best computer hacker in San Francisco. She suddenly gasped silently to herself, if she was under arrest she was going to absolutely freak out.

Jennifer Jareau felt her phone vibrate against her thigh but she didn't bother to answer it, her boss was already informed of her whereabouts. She was, however, very puzzled about why she was here. She wondered what the American government wanted with a 24-year-old, small town girl who worked in public relations in New York City. Especially since, as far as she could tell, everyone else in this room, except for the blonde woman to her right, seemed very official, they looked like they _were_ the government. As far back as she could remember she had never done anything illegal, she wasn't on any watch lists, and she paid her taxes. She didn't know anyone who worked for the government either. She had a lot of questions and she wanted some answers.

Jason Gideon leaned back in his chair making himself comfortable. There were only a couple of reasons that he could think of for why someone from the Pentagon would call him and ask for his and two of his best agents. And all of them he was dreading. From just visual profiling, no one at this table looked like they were prepared for it except for himself, Dave, Hotch, and Reid. There was a muscular, African-American man, three women who looked to be in their early twenties, two of them Caucasian with long, blonde hair, and the other Hispanic. The other woman, he suspected was in her late twenties and if he wasn't mistaken, he recognized her as Ambassador Prentiss' daughter. But people had proven him wrong before and he wasn't fond of judging a group of people before he got a chance to have an actual conversation with them. His only hope was that someone would come and talk to them soon to give the others time to digest the seriousness of the type of task that he anticipated.

With that thought, a young, gangly male dressed in a crumpled dress shirt and pants and carrying a handful of files entered the room. "Good evening."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and alerts:) I hope that I don't disappoint and I still haven't settled on the pairings.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 2 – The Mission**

They all sat up straight in their chairs and became fully alert at the sound of an unknown voice. The man walked towards the front of the room and stood up in front of the table. He tentatively looked down at them, his brow beading with sweat. "Hello, I'm Joseph Lincoln and I work here…at the Pentagon, under the command of Colonel Byron Frost who works for the Secretary of Defence." He took a deep breath. "You're probably wondering why you're all here, and I'm sorry for keeping you waiting." He laid the files that he was carrying on the table. "Last week, an intelligence unit intercepted and decoded a message and we have reason to believe that next month, when the President is scheduled to address the people on the steps of the Capitol Building, beside the Israeli Ambassador, that there will be an attempt on his life and subsequently, numerous bombs will be set off in the D.C. area. We have reason to believe that this will be the work of a local Al-Quida cell." He paused before he added quietly, "This country cannot afford another September 11th."

He took a moment to observe the various reactions before he continued. "I have assembled the nine of you because I believe that you are our best shot at preventing this from happening." He took another deep breath before he got into the finer details. "We have exactly three weeks and two days before the presidential address and in that time we will have to put you up in a safe house. One is already prepared in rural Virginia. This assignment is the highest level of classified so you cannot mention it to anyone besides each other and me, for safety." He looked around at each individual. "I need to know right now if anyone is not up for this."

It was silent for a moment until the eccentric blonde spoke up. "Are you sure you got the right girl?"

He gave her a small smile. "Yes Ms. Garcia, I am. Anyone?"

"What do you want us to do?" Rossi asked in his raspy voice.

"Agent Rossi," Lincoln addressed him, "you and Agent Gideon," he passed each of them a file, "will be the lead profilers on this task force. You know how to do your jobs." He took another file off of the thick stack and passed it to Hotch. "Agent Hotchner, you were on SWAT, correct?"

Hotch nodded. "Yes."

Lincoln handed him a file. "We need to know the best vantage points for snipers around the Capitol." He gathered his thoughts before he turned towards the awkward, young man seated beside Gideon. "Dr. Reid." Reid quickly raised his head to meet Lincoln's eyes. "I want you to work with Agent Greenaway." Reid swallowed nervously as Lincoln glanced towards the beauty in the red blouse. "I want you to create a list of potential targets for the bombings." He also handed each of them a file. "Agent Prentiss."

"Yes sir," she responded eagerly.

"Fluent in six languages, including Arabic?" Prentiss nodded and accepted a file. "In there are the original intercepted messages…in Arabic. You grew up in several Middle Eastern countries so we want to see if you can provide any further insight." He turned towards the handsome, African-American male and handed him a file. "Work with Agent Morgan to figure out the types of explosives that we will most likely be dealing with."

"So what am I here for? I'm not law enforcement," the pretty blonde spoke up quietly.

"No, Ms. Jareau you certainly are not. But I've been told that you're the best there is in public relations in all of New York City. So that's why you're here. There is going to be a lot of media hype surrounding this and we need to make sure that nothing leaks and that it doesn't get out of hand." He handed her a file. "And Ms. Garcia, there will be a computer at the safe house that will have access to both the FBI and CIA databases. We need you to look out for anything suspicious, more messages, people who are on watch lists that are travelling, obviously not by airplane but by trains or buses. Any robberies or break-ins of labs or warehouses where anything valuable to their mission could have been obtained, lists are in there," as he spoke he placed the last file in front of her.

"How long did you say we have?" Morgan asked, speaking for the first time.

"Three weeks and two days," Lincoln replied solemnly.

"And we're going to be confined to this safe house?"

"Yes Agent Greenaway," he answered turning towards the brunette. "Everything you need will be there, your luggage has already been sent there."

"Then let's get to work."

Everyone looked at Gideon as he spoke. "My sentiments exactly," Lincoln said with a small smile.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews:) I thought that it was time for a little bit of character development. Also, at the time that this fic is set, the Green River Killer would have pled guilty to police but not in court. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 3 – Settling Into the Safe House**

They arrived at the safe house in rural Virginia shortly before midnight. The drive had been quiet and solemn, with each person processing what was being asked of them. The house was a large, two-storey, country house with the front porch going around the whole structure and a large backyard.

Rossi entered the spotless house first and proceeded to walk into the large kitchen where a gun and his new badge rested on the counter. He smiled to himself as he snapped the gun on his belt and shoved the badge in his back pocket.

"Hey guys," Reid spoke up as he entered the kitchen where everyone else was gathered. He was fresh from exploring the house. "There are only four bedrooms," he stated awkwardly.

"Ooo we're rooming, exciting!" Garcia replied excitedly but hung her head and blushed as everyone else stared at her.

"There are three rooms with two double beds and one room with a set of bunk beds and a single bed, and they have suitcases on them."

Morgan nodded. "Well I'm beat so I'm gonna go see where I am."

The others, except for Rossi and Gideon, shared Morgan's feelings and soon followed him up the stairs. Gideon walked down the hallway and peered into the two rooms which were cleared out for their work spaces while Rossi walked back into the porch. He opened the doors of the large closet and saw that it was full of FBI flack jackets, bullet-proof vests, firearms, two-way radios and earpieces. Placed on the bottom shelf were several small TV sets. He got down on one knee and inspected his finding more closely, it was video surveillance of the entire house and it's outside perimeter. He could see his new coworkers settling into their rooms.

Reid walked into the bedroom that would occupy three people and recognized his suitcase on the top bunk. "Oh that's mine!" He walked towards the beds and tossed his messenger bag onto the mattress.

"Hey Reid," Hotch greeted him as he entered the bedroom and sat on the single bed.

"So that's yours?" Reid asked as he pointed to the large, black suitcase.

Hotch nodded. "Yeah and Agent Morgan is our other roommate, I passed him in the hallway on his way to the bathroom." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped open the screen. "Get some sleep Reid, we have work to do in the morning, I'm going to give Haley a call."

Reid nodded and waited for Hotch to exit the room before he hopped up onto the top bunk. "Hey," he spoke awkwardly as Morgan entered the room in a pair of pyjama pants and a plain, black t-shirt.

He gave the younger man a friendly smile as he walked towards the beds and flopped onto the bottom bunk. "Reid right?"

"Yeah that's what everyone calls me."

"Well everyone calls me Morgan."

As soon as Morgan flicked off the bedside lamp, Reid took off his glasses and placed them on the tall wardrobe next to the set of beds. He then pushed his suitcase and messenger bag to the side, turned down the bedcovers, and slipped under the sheets. He manoeuvred out of his clothes until he was just in his boxers and socks and he pulled the covers up to his neck.

Meanwhile, the girls were also settling in.

Garcia walked into a room, noticing her colourful piece of luggage on the far bed, and was greeted by a slim brunette. "Emily Prentiss," she said smiling as she held out her hand.

Garcia returned her smile as she shook her hand, "Penelope Garcia."

"I noticed that we have an adjoining bathroom with the other female room."

"Cool, all ladies bathroom," she replied laughing.

Emily was in the middle of laughing along with her when her cell phone rang. "Oh excuse me," she said politely before she answered her phone. "Prentiss." Garcia sat on the edge of her bed and tried not to eavesdrop on her roommate's private conversation but found that there was nothing else to listen to. "No, I'm still in D.C….for a while…yeah I know, I'm sorry, I promise that I'll be home as soon as I can." Garcia judged by the giggling that followed, that the person on the other end of Emily's line could only be a significant other. "Shut up…no, I can't…why?...Because I'm not alone that's why…I'm tired…okay, so I'll call you tomorrow night…yeah, I love you too. Bye bye."

She turned off her phone and blushed as she looked at Garcia. "Sorry about that."

"Boyfriend?" She asked curiously.

Emily shook her head and smiled. "Fiancé."

She held out her left hand to Garcia and she gasped. "Wow, your ring is gorgeous. Does he have a name?"

"Ryan," the brunette replied grinning.

The two women started 'girl talk' as the remaining women got to know each other in the room beside them.

"Man I'm drained," Elle stated as she ran a hand through her long, dark hair.

"Yeah me too. Where did you fly in from?" The blonde asked making conversation.

"Seattle."

"Ouch, coast to coast." She got up off of her bed and opened her suitcase. "I'm going to get ready for bed, you can have the bathroom."

Elle smiled. "Thanks Jennifer…"

The blonde cut her off, "Everyone calls me JJ."

"Well thanks JJ," she smiled as she grabbed her suitcase and walked into the bathroom.

When Elle stepped out of the bathroom in her sleepwear, a baggy, New York Giants jersey that came down to her knees, she laughed as she took in JJ's appearance. Her roommate was wearing a baggy, Washington Redskins jersey that also came down to her knees.

"Redskins fan?" Elle laughed.

JJ laughed along with her. "Giants fan?"

Elle nodded. "Are you from D.C.?"

"No," JJ shook her head as she got under the covers of her bed. "I grew up just outside of Pittsburgh but I've always been a Redskins fan. But you must be from New York."

The brunette flicked off the light switch so that the small, bedside lamp was now the only illumination in the room. "Yeah," she answered as she also got in bed. "I grew up in Brooklyn."

The two women talked about their hometowns and sports until they were both struggling to keep their eyes open and then fell asleep.

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**Day 1…**

At breakfast, the next morning, the mood was much more comfortable. The nine people of different races, ethnicities, backgrounds, and upbringings were scattered about the kitchen having various conversations.

Hotch and Emily were both leaning on the kitchen counter chatting with coffee cups in hand. "Correct me if I'm wrong Agent Hotchner but you've worked with my mother haven't you?"

Hotch nodded as he sipped his coffee. "Yeah I did security clearance for your mother's team. It was one of my first commands. I think that you were getting ready to go off to university at the time, though I can't remember which one."

"Yale," she answered him smiling.

"Right," he smiled back at her. He tried not to pay too much attention to the fact that the quiet, shy adolescent that he remembered had grown into a very attractive, confident woman.

Morgan and Garcia harmlessly flirted on the other side of the kitchen. "So big, bad, FBI boy, what exactly do you do?"

Morgan laughed and shot her his gorgeous smile. "Right now, I am an ATF agent at the Chicago field office."

"What's that?" She asked confused.

He laughed again and leaned in and whispered, "I put bombs back together."

"Oh," she smiled, "right cuz you're the explosives expert."

"That's right and how did they find you, the computer goddess?"

"I figure that they just asked around," she answered honestly. "Its not like I'm a professional or anything, I hack for fun."

The remaining occupants of the house were sat around the kitchen table. "Agent Rossi, I've read all of your books."

Rossi looked across the table at the young man who was obviously a little star struck. "Thank you," he replied simply.

"So what was it like to interview Bundy?" Reid asked excitedly.

Gideon laughed lightly at his youngest agent's enthusiasm. "Reid, I'm sure that it's not an ideal breakfast topic."

"Oh," he hung his head and blushed awkwardly.

"They let me lead an interview with Gary Ridgeway this past spring," the brunette to his right whispered quietly.

He quickly turned towards her. "Really? The Green River Killer?"

Elle nodded. "He hasn't pled guilty in a court yet but yes."

"But you haven't been in the FBI that long have you?" He asked curiously.

"Only a year but my supervisor was called in to interview him and I was the only agent available so he took me along and when we got there, he let me lead."

"Wow!" He replied amazed.

"Hey! What are you guys talking about?" Emily asked smiling as she took the seat across from Elle.

"The Green River Killer," Reid responded with a smile on his face.

JJ laughed awkwardly. "I only know the media side of that case. What are the actual law enforcement details?"

Reid leaned forward and with the help of Elle and Emily, explained the case of the Green River Killer to JJ. It was an odd ensemble of people and a less than normal topic of conversation but they were all becoming fast friends.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews:) and a special thanks to TheSecondStake who pointed out an informational error in Chapter 3, I do my research but if you think that I have stumbled upon any false information than please let me know:)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 4 – Back To Work**

"So what do we already know about Al-Quida cells?" Gideon posed the question to start the discussion as they all sat around the living room.

"Did you know that according to the controversial BBC documentary _The Power of Nightmares_, Al-Quida is so weakly linked together that it is hard to say if it exists at all?"

Morgan looked at Reid with an expression of pure bewilderment. "Okay I gotta get this outta the way now, is he a genius?"

"I don't believe that intelligence can be accurately quantified," Reid replied. "But I do have three PhDs, an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory, and can read 20,000 words per minute."

Hotch turned to Morgan. "Yes, he's a genius." He paused before he changed the subject. "If it is an Al-Quida cell than we are most likely looking for Middle Eastern males in their twenties."

"It has been estimated that 62 percent of Al-Quida members have a university education. So intelligent, organized, Middle Eastern males," Emily added.

Reid turned to her and nodded. "Yes, they have a highly organized structure with distinct committees, a military committee, a business committee, a law committee, etc."

Rossi made one more jot in his small notebook before he spoke. "The typical techniques for attacks include suicide attacks and simultaneous bombings of different targets."

"Suicide bombers are loyal, determined, and committed to their task, impossible to talk off a ledge."

"So what does that mean for us?" Garcia asked in response to Morgan's statement.

"That if we don't figure this out before it happens we have no way of stopping it," Gideon answered quietly.

"Why do they do this?" JJ asked confused.

"It's the Jihad," Emily explained, "it means 'struggle.' Extremists claim that it's a holy war."

"Yet the words 'holy' and 'war' never appear together in the Qu'ran," Reid said ironically.

Hotch sifted through the papers in the file that Lincoln had given him. "We should probably work on the tasks that Lincoln assigned."

Everybody silently agreed and slowly scattered about the house. Rossi and Gideon stayed in the living room to work on the profile. Garcia made her way into the room containing the computer and JJ went with her. Hotch moved to his bedroom and spread out his papers all over the bed. Reid and Elle walked into the small room whose walls were covered with maps of the D.C. area, and Morgan and Emily decided to work in her bedroom.

"So what kinda explosives do you think that we'll be dealing with?" Emily asked as she took a seat on her bed.

Morgan shook his head as he took a seat next to her. "It's hard to say really. It could be something as obvious as a time bomb in a basement of a building, or it could be a remote trigger strapped onto an individual or it could be something as sophisticated as a bomb in a soda bottle or paint can."

"Whoa, seems like we're looking at a lot of guess work."

"Not really." Emily gave him a curious look. "Based upon the type of individuals we are dealing with we can determine what kind of explosive they will use. They're going to go with the device that will result in the maximum amount of damage. Explosives are categorized into three types. Primary explosives are extremely sensitive to shock, friction, and heat therefore they are dangerous to the handler. Then there are secondary explosives such as dynamite, and then there are tertiary explosives. They are also called blasting agents, and they are so insensitive to shock that they cannot be reliably set off with a primary explosive and so they require the boost of a secondary explosive."

"So what do you think we're looking at?"

He paused for a second. "If they decide to go with a mixture of an oxidizer and a fuel than my best guess is that it'll be black powder, which is a mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulphur, or an ANFO, ammonium nitrate and fuel oil."

Her eyes widened. "That sounds like it would produce a pretty big response."

"Oh yeah," he nodded.

Meanwhile……

Reid sat at the small, round table and scribbled on a notepad as Elle paced back and forth the room. "Potential bomb targets, potential bomb targets," she repeated to herself.

Reid glanced up at her. "Most likely buildings important to the United States government and international trade, buildings with a lot of employees and in places with high population densities."

"This is Washington D.C.," she scoffed, "that's everywhere."

"What unit to you work in?" He asked randomly.

She laughed lightly at his amount of focus. "Violent Crimes, I mostly get handed sex crimes cases." She gave him a small smile. "I see that I'm not the only one who's trying to figure out why I'm here."

He blushed profusely. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright," she cut him off. "So back to the bomb targets."

"Yes," he nodded.

"Do you think we can consider the Pentagon a target again?" Elle asked as she took a seat across from Reid.

"Definitely," he nodded.

Meanwhile……

Garcia's fingers began to work furiously on the keyboard while JJ sat on the edge of the computer desk with her cell phone in her hand.

"Hey what are you doing?" JJ asked curiously as she glanced at the monitor.

"I'm typing in a list of chemicals and materials and putting them on a search for materials that have been stolen from labs, warehouses, businesses, ya know that kinda stuff."

"How long are you going back?"

Garcia turned to look at her. "Three months, Lincoln told me that if they have a plan they already have the materials by now and probably obtained those months ago."

JJ nodded. "Okay so how long will that search take?"

"A couple of hours," Garcia answered frowning. "But it's searching all over the world where it's into the CIA and FBI databases so we're not going to miss anything."

"Well that's good," JJ replied with a small smile. "Hey," she started changing the subject, "are you feeling a little bit of pressure here? I mean me and you just got plucked out of our normal lives and into this."

"Yeah but it's nice to be part of something that actually means something," Garcia responded quietly. "Ya know to feel like you have a purpose." The other blonde simply nodded but did not speak so she decided to lighten the mood. "Besides, there's nice eye candy in this house."

JJ laughed hysterically, she could tell that Penelope Garcia would be a vital component in maintaining the sanity of the occupants of this house.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed and alerted:) I think that the pairings are pretty well set :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 5 – Chemistry**

**Day 3…**

Hotch awoke in the middle of the night, as he always did while he was working on a case, and quietly made his way out of the bedroom, careful not to wake his roommates. He crept down over the stairs and made his way into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and proceeded to pour himself a glass of milk. He was startled when her heard the front door and shortly after, saw a shadow approaching the kitchen. He instinctively grabbed a kitchen knife out of the holder on the counter and hid himself from sight. He sighed in relief when he saw that it was Emily. "What are you doing up?"

Emily jumped at the sound of a voice and turned to see that it was Hotch. "I could ask you the same question."

He smiled as he placed the knife back where he had found it. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to get something to drink."

"Well I couldn't sleep so I decided to go outside and have a smoke." As she spoke, she tried to not let it be evident in her voice that she was feeling very self-conscious wearing just a tight t-shirt and pyjama pants.

"You smoke?" He asked slightly surprised.

She nodded and sighed. "Yeah, a bad habit that I picked up in high school and can't seem to quit." She paused before she retreated to a comfortable subject. "So how's the work going?" She walked closer towards him and leaned her body against the kitchen counter.

He rolled his eyes. "There are so many good vantage points around the Capitol Building for a sniper."

"Really?" She asked laughing lightly.

"Yeah," he nodded, "too many to narrow it down so we're going to have to put safety measures on all of them. How's determining the explosives agent going with Morgan?"

"Well I've told him what I know of Middle Eastern life and culture and we've done some research on past Al-Quida bombings and they fit to pattern considering they've used black powder before and Garcia found that one of the primary ingredients, potassium nitrate, was reported stolen from a lab at the University of Baltimore."

"So maybe we can use the connection to the University of Baltimore as a lead," he suggested helpfully.

Emily smiled. "Yeah that's what we plan to do in the morning." She laughed as she looked down at her watch. "Or should I say in four hours or so?"

He laughed along with her. "Yeah we should probably get back to bed."

At the same time that he made a move to leave the kitchen, she did as well, and as a result they lightly brushed up against each other. Her breath caught in her throat but she managed a flustered apology. "Sorry."

He gave her a small smile. "It was my fault, you go first." He hated to think that there was something more to his statement than a polite gesture as he watched the sway of her hips from behind as they walked up over the stairs.

-----------------------

Elle excitedly ran down over the stairs, still in her Giants jersey and a pair of pyjama pants. She entered the kitchen to meet Rossi, Gideon, Hotch, Emily, and Garcia. "Good morning guys. Where's everybody else?"

"JJ and Morgan are in the shower…not together of course," Garcia added laughing, "and I think that Reid's still in bed."

"Okay, thanks," Elle said before she raced up the stairs. She opened the door to the all male bedroom that held three occupants and saw that Reid was sleeping peacefully on the top bunk. She smiled as she noticed how cute he looked; he had the bedcovers pulled up so high that all you could see was a head of messy, brown hair. She walked over and gently tousled his hair. "Reid wake up."

He stirred and grunted before he opened his eyes and saw who the person was that was guilty of waking him. "Wha…what are…ya…what are you doing?" He asked confused as he made sure he was not exposed. He was aware that under the covers he was only in his boxers.

"I got an idea!" She replied smiling brightly. She made a move to get up on the bed but stopped. "Can I?"

He nodded and sat up, keeping the covers tight to his neck. "Yeah."

She hopped up onto the bed and sat across from him. "So I was thinking that if I was a terrorist who was plotting to set off simultaneous bombs at various locations that will do maximum structural damage and be dangerous to a large number of human lives but also have a significant impact to the United States as a whole, where would I pick?" He looked at her curiously and she laughed. "Come on triple PhD!"

He gave her a small smile. "Give me a little bit of a break, you just woke me up."

"University campuses!" She exclaimed while lightly tapping his shoulder.

His eyes lit up. "Georgetown University alone has a total student population of over 14,000."

Elle smiled. "Exactly! And there are still going to be regular classes, presidential address or not, which means thousands of people in the classrooms, library, dormitories," she stopped and caught her breath. "See where I'm going with this?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Just let me get dressed and then we can plot out the locations to see if there's any pattern."

-----------------------

Morgan walked into one of their work rooms and saw Garcia working on the computer. "So girl, did you dig up anything else on that robbery at the University of Baltimore?"

Garcia spun around in her chair to face him and smiled. "Sorry handsome, just that the whole supply of potassium nitrate was stolen."

"The whole supply?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

She nodded. "Yeah, that's what the report says."

"Hmm," he pondered thoughtfully, "the whole supply. How much potassium nitrate would there be in one university chem lab?"

She laughed, "Well I dunno about university, but in high school we only had one bottle of everything but I dunno how much was in each one."

He shook his head. "No, one lab's supply would not be enough for what these guys have planned. Were any other robberies reported?"

She turned back to her computer and double-checked the list that she had generated from her search. "Not any potential bomb making materials." She laughed lightly, "One farmer reported that his barn was raided and all the sawdust was gone."

"Oh damn," Morgan said quietly as he leaned over her shoulder.

She looked up at him worriedly. "What is it?"

"Homemade dynamite."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed:) This chapter is very character based.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 6 – Thoughts That Take Over Your Mind**

**Day 6…**

Reid and Morgan lay in their respective beds with all of the bedroom lights off. Everyone in the house, except for Hotch who was calling home to his wife, decided to turn in early because Lincoln's coming in the morning to gage their progress.

Reid tossed and turned and decided to speak when he realized that he was not getting to sleep any time soon. "Morgan?"

"Yeah," he replied alertly.

"Can I ask you a kind of embarrassing question? And you can't tell anybody," he added nervously.

Morgan laughed lightly. "Yeah sure man, anything you say to me is in confidence."

"How do you know when a girl…umm well a woman, likes you?" He was glad that they were not facing each other and they were in the dark because he was blushing profusely.

"What?" He smiled to himself; he could tell that the boy genius wasn't too experienced when it came to the opposite sex.

"Like…well how do you tell if she's flirting with you?" This was a question that he had been pondering for a couple of days now and he desperately needed an answer.

"Well some women are just flirty but if she's really into you then she'll do the following things, okay?"

"Okay," Reid answered excitedly as he prepared to make mental notes.

"She'll want to start actual conversations not 'how are you today?' or 'nice weather we're having', she'll talk about her job, and her family and her hometown, stuff like that."

Reid nodded. "Okay, that makes sense I guess."

Morgan laughed. "Yeah and she's gonna joke around with you a lot, almost on a teasing sort of level but not like mean, childhood teasing, she'll say it with like a seductive look on her face." He paused and thought for a moment. "Every time you see her you're gonna think that she's hotter than the last time you saw her cuz she wants to make sure that she looks good, and you're gonna notice, well if you get close enough to her, that she smells good."

"Well she does smell amazing," Reid mumbled to himself under his breath.

"What was that man?"

"Nothing," he answered flushed, "please continue."

"Okay so she's going to touch your arm and your shoulder a lot when you're talking, she's gonna laugh at your jokes, even if they aren't funny." Morgan laughed to himself, "That one's a real giveaway."

"Is that it?" Reid asked as he went over the information that he had received in his head.

"No, there's one more and it may sound stupid but women actually do this, she's going to bend over a lot."

"What?" He asked confused.

Morgan laughed, "Yeah, I know, it sounds stupid but they do it to give you an opportunity to subtly check out their ass."

"Oh, okay, well I guess that's…nice…"

"Yes, yes it is," Morgan responded as he smirked to himself. "Hey Reid."

"Yeah," he answered quietly.

"Anyone I know?" He asked curiously.

"What?" Reid asked fearfully.

The older man laughed lightly. "The girl that you want to figure out if she's into you, is it anyone I know?"

"No," he replied quickly. "She's umm…she's a friend back in D.C." He turned blood red as he stuttered.

Morgan smirked to himself again. "Okay kid, if you say so, goodnight man."

"Yeah goodnight and thanks Morgan," he thanked him sincerely.

"No problem man," Morgan replied honestly as he rolled over in his bed and closed his eyes.

-----------------------

**Day 7…**

JJ and Elle walked into the kitchen together to meet Gideon and Rossi. "Good morning ladies, would you like some coffee?" Rossi asked politely.

"Please," Elle replied smiling as she ran a hand through her long, dark hair. The two women walked towards the counter and Rossi poured two cups of coffee and then followed Gideon out of the kitchen. JJ sighed relieved. "What?" Elle asked curiously.

"Maybe I'm just paranoid," JJ started, "but it's like I can feel his eyes on me all the time."

"Who? Rossi?"

JJ nodded. "Yeah, I dunno, it feels weird," she stated uncomfortably.

The brunette smiled at the younger woman. "But you have great poise," she complimented before she took a sip of the hot, black liquid. "You should consider the media aspect of the FBI."

She scoffed, "I don't know if that's exactly for me."

Their conversation was interrupted when Garcia and Emily entered the kitchen. "Good morning," JJ greeted them smiling.

"Morning," Garcia replied sleepily.

Elle laughed as the four women took seats at the kitchen table. "What's up Garcia?"

"Emily's fiancé called two thirty last night, I was none too impressed," she explained.

The other women laughed as Emily turned blood red. "So what was it Em, late night booty call?" Elle asked smirking.

"He said that he forgot how late it was here," Emily told them shyly.

Reid awkwardly stepped into the kitchen to hear the four females laughing. Garcia turned towards him and smiled brightly. "Take a seat at the table you beautiful genius." He smiled and shyly waved a salutation as he took the seat next to the cheerful, blonde woman. "You're up earlier than usual."

"I awoke when Hotch got up to get in the shower."

"Do you have a girlfriend Dr. Reid?" Garcia pried with a smirk on her face. He blushed and made a move to get up out of the chair but Garcia placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back into a sitting position. "You're too cute to be single."

JJ giggled, "Yeah, its true."

"Can we not talk about this?" He begged adorably as he looked down at his hands.

Garcia shook her head. "No, you have to tell us, we know about everyone else, I'm single, Morgan's single, JJ has a reporter boyfriend, Emily is engaged, Hotch is married, and Elle is single, so we need to know about you."

He raised his head intrigued when she had revealed that Elle, the tall, slim, intelligent, gorgeous brunette who was currently the object of his affection, is single. "Well if you must know," he spoke hesitantly, "I do not have a girlfriend," he added quickly as he got to his feet. "Now I'm going to get coffee."

Elle looked down into her mug and smirked to herself at the young man's revelation. He was intelligent, handsome, and available.

-----------------------

Only hours later, the mood was much less light-hearted and everybody, except for Garcia of course, was dressed as if they were going to work, and was in a strictly professional state of mind. The sexual tensions that have developed in the past week were pushed aside, and the budding friendships were put on hold. The familiar sense that they were a family had disappeared and they were now just coworkers again. This was because Lincoln would be here in a matter of minutes, perhaps seconds, and they were to give a report saying how much information they had gathered and how close they were to preventing a national disaster.

Lincoln walked into the living room where they were all gathered with a smile on his face. "Good day all, I brought extra groceries and things and I left them on the kitchen table." He took a seat in a comfortable leather chair and after listening to and reading various reports he had few words to say. "So we have the typical terrorist profile, homemade dynamite, and university campuses as targets." He paused and nodded. "Well to be honest I expected more," he said disappointedly. "We have 16 days until the presidential address and we have made very little progress in stopping this." He shoved the papers that he had received into his briefcase and got to his feet.

Before he had a chance to leave, Rossi spoke up. "Excuse me Lincoln but I know that we can do this." The younger residents of the house were extremely taken aback by his boldness but Gideon and Hotch, who had worked with Dave Rossi before, were not. They knew how he approached a case. If there was one thing that agitated him, it was an unaccomplished goal.

Lincoln stared at him curiously. "Pardon?"

"I haven't worked with most of these people before but as you said when you first assembled us, they're the best at what they do, and if anybody can figure this out, we can."

Everything about Rossi was intimidating, his physical appearance, his demeanour, his intellect, his past success, and this intimidation factor even affected the youngest man to work at the Pentagon. Lincoln gave him a satisfied nodded before he left the living room and the house.

Rossi immediately left the living room and entered one of the office rooms and Gideon followed him. "The Dave Rossi that I know wouldn't have done that on a BAU case."

"Well this is different," he responded in his raspy voice. "Millions of people's lives are dependent upon us."

Gideon scratched his head and laughed lightly. "We…us…what happened to I?"

"Jason you're the one who told me that the FBI is no longer individual, we think as individuals but we work together."

Gideon nodded. "Yeah I did, I did tell you that."

"Everything is about the team now right?"

"Yes, yes it is," Gideon answered as he nodded again.

"Now let's get back to work," Rossi said seriously. He turned on his heel and made his way back into the living room.

-----------------------

After being put down by Lincoln and defended by Rossi, the group worked diligently into the night. Gideon, Rossi, and Hotch remained in the living room, Emily, Morgan, and JJ tossed around ideas while Garcia researched on the computer, and Elle and Reid mapped out potential bomb targets on his bed.

"What do you think of that?" Reid asked Elle as he looked down at the map of the D.C. metropolitan area. "Elle?" He asked as he had not received a response. He glanced up and saw that she had fallen asleep on his bed. He was sitting cross-legged and this had given her enough room to curl up in the fetal position at the bottom of the bed and analyze the map of the area surrounding the Capitol Building.

He wasn't sure exactly what to do; he had never been in this position before. She looked so peaceful that he didn't have the heart to wake her but realistically he probably should so that she could move to her own bed to sleep. She had fallen asleep in a pair of jeans and a tight t-shirt so he guessed that it wouldn't be the most comfortable outfit to wake up in, especially in this summer weather.

Stray hair had fallen in front of her face so he tentatively reached out and gently tucked it behind her ear. She stirred as he ever so slightly grazed her skin with his fingertips. "Elle I'm sorry, do you want to…?"

She cut him off, "No, I'm fine," she replied sleepily as she shifted into a more comfortable position and swung her feet into his lap. "If you don't mind."

"I don't mind," he replied in the high-pitched voice that he only got when a female flustered him. He took a deep breath as her toes accidentally stroked his thigh. In an effort to prevent utter embarrassment, he picked up her feet, lay down on his back, and then placed her feet on his abdomen.

He took one of his pillows and tossed it onto his shins. She opened her eyes, looked up at him, and smiled. "Thank you." She moved and rested her head on the pillow, both ends of her body were now on him and she was quite content. He was being sweet about her invasion of his space and from what she could tell, he had washboard abs.

He fell asleep thinking about the things that Morgan had told him, he wondered if the older man would consider this flirting.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews and alerts:) More character as requested:)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 7 – Tensions and Relief**

**Day 8…**

Elle awoke when she heard movement in the bedroom. She opened her eyes and lifted her head to see Hotch leaving the room, and that's when it hit her, she had made the conscious decision to sleep on Reid's bed last night. She looked up to see that her companion was still asleep. She cautiously sat up and took her feet off of his stomach and as quietly as possible, hopped onto the floor.

When she did, she saw Morgan smirking up at her from the bottom bunk. "You fell asleep with Reid," he stated with a smug grin.

She nodded trying to remain nonchalant. "Yeah, we were studying maps and we were exhausted and we fell asleep."

He nodded and a smirk remained on his face. "Uh huh, yeah, and you didn't even have enough energy to get off the bed, leave the room, and walk like three strides down the hallway and make it to your own room?"

"I was really tired!" She argued. A small smile came through on her serious face as she realized that she talked to Morgan like she talked to her brothers.

"And Reid didn't have a problem with you sleeping on him?"

She ran a hand through her hair as the room suddenly became tense. "I'll see you at breakfast," she quickly changed the subject as she walked towards the door.

Reid awoke when he heard the door close. "Hey where's…?"

"Oh your lady friend," Morgan cut him off. "Yeah she woke up and snuck out."

"Oh," he replied disappointed as blush crept across his face. His only fear was that now things would be awkward between him and Elle.

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**Day 10…**

"Lincoln's right! Ten days and we have nothing!" Rossi exclaimed annoyed. "We need a break in this case, just a little thread that we can pull."

"We'll get it," Gideon told him calmly.

"How can you be so confident when you say that Jason?"

"How can you not? You're the legend," he replied with a small smile.

"Everyone else is getting frustrated; you can see it in their eyes."

Gideon raised an eyebrow. "I see you've been profiling the younger agents."

"Prentiss, Morgan, Greenaway, and Reid's experience combined doesn't even come close to mine…or yours," he said truthfully.

"But they are intelligent…"

Rossi cut him off. "They're still finding their feet!"

Gideon could tell that his old friend's fuse was shortening and he decided to stop the conversation before it turned into a full-fledged argument. "I'm going to check in on Reid's progress," he said as he got up off of his bed.

Rossi nodded. "Okay." He took a deep breath and composed himself as his roommate left the room.

**Day 11…**

Emily urgently ran around the house, searching for Hotch. She found him in the room that Gideon and Rossi usually worked in. He was standing in front of the whiteboard on which the profile was written. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a plain, blue t-shirt and he sipped from a mug full of coffee. He turned towards her when he heard her enter the room. "Emily what are you doing?"

She stood still and attempted to regain her breath. "Hotch…I…I was…"

He gave her a small smile as he walked towards her. "Take a minute to breathe."

She took his advice and waited a while before she spoke. "Okay so Garcia and I were just upstairs talking and she said something that unfortunately reminded me of my mother." He laughed lightly and she smiled awkwardly. "Sorry," she apologized before she returned to her story. "But that reminded me of when we lived in D.C. and my mother had to make a speech on the steps of the Capitol Building and my father, who's an architect, was telling the security team that no one who wanted a clean assassination would set up snipers anywhere near the perimeter."

Hotch raised a curious eyebrow. "So what are you saying?"

"He said that the shooter would have to be in the crowd," she relayed excitedly.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded furiously. "Yeah, I take in every word that my father says."

"That means that we have to have undercover agents amongst the crowd."

She nodded again as she walked towards the whiteboard and picked up the marker. Her hand hovered over the section of the board where Reid had done a scale drawing of one square mile surrounding the Capitol Building. "The shooter has to have good vision so he would have to be around here." As she finished speaking, she drew a small oval with the marker. "What do you think?" She turned around and when she did, her face was only inches from his.

"I think that you're definitely on to something," he answered quietly.

Emily noticed that his voice had deepened and his eyes had darkened, and it made her swallow nervously. The air in the room had changed; you could now barely cut the tension with a knife. She found him unbelievably attractive, he was literally tall, dark, and handsome, and he had a great body, but she hated the fact that she was being tempted in this house. She could feel his hot breath on her face and she knew that she was on the verge of weakness.

"Maybe we should explore this idea more," she suggested breathlessly.

He simply nodded. He was too busy looking into her distinctive, dark brown eyes. Since he had gotten married he had never been this enticed by another woman. She was probably the smartest woman that he had ever met in his life and she wasn't exactly hard on the eyes either. Every single feeling that he had for her was so wrong but he couldn't make them go away.

She was the one to prevent inappropriate things from occurring. She stepped to the side as she said, "I'm going to tell Gideon my idea."

He took a sip from his mug like nothing had ever happened. "Okay." But his eyes did not leave her as she left the room.

-----------------------

**Day 13…**

JJ turned off her cell phone and angrily shoved it into her jeans pocket. Gideon glanced up from the file that he was reading and observed the frustrated look on the young, blonde woman's face. "Something bothering you?" He asked kindly.

She shook her head. "No, I'm just stressed."

"Take a break," he suggested as he resumed reading.

"How am I supposed to do that when everyone is depending on us?" She asked irritated.

He removed his glasses and made eye contact with her. "You're not going to be any good to anyone if you don't relax. I have been doing this job, in one way or another, for almost 30 years, and I've learned that you have to take time away or otherwise you're no good to the job. Why don't you round up everybody for darts?"

She pondered this thought for a moment before she decided to take the experienced man's advice. She smiled to herself as she got to her feet. "Yeah I will thanks."

He looked up at her and said seriously, "You're good at what you do."

She smiled at him brightly before she left the room and walked upstairs.

-----------------------

"Derek Morgan you are now dead!" JJ declared with a triumphant smirk on her face.

She had done what Gideon had suggested and now all nine of them were playing a game of 'Killer' in the den. JJ was by far the best at darts and had won her third game in a row.

"How'd you get so good at this?" Morgan asked after his defeat.

JJ smiled, "Hometown is too small for a bowling alley, darts is like a national sport and besides you were double 14, I could hit double 14 in my sleep."

Morgan laughed, "Well okay hot shot, let's play again."

Reid laughed lightly at the banter as he stood in the corner next to Garcia. "I'm really not very good at this game."

Garcia smiled. "Me neither but it's nice to do something fun huh?"

"Yeah," he laughed lightly and nodded. "But I think that I'd rather be reading or playing chess."

JJ overheard what he had said and tousled his hair in response. "Come on Reid, let's play again."

He smiled back at her and stepped up to the line. "Okay."

For the first time since they had entered the safe house, they had a fun, care free night and put on hold the thoughts of terrorists, bombs, and snipers. The stress of the assignment and the various tensions that were building in the house put them all on edge and they all revelled in a little down time.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews :) Appreciate it! This chapter is kinda short, sorry :( lol but more to come:)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 8 – Family Activities **

**Day 15…**

Reid nervously scurried around the kitchen. For the past week, they had taken turns cooking and now it was his turn. Rossi had made a large, extravagant breakfast, Hotch had showed off his grilling expertise, Emily had made the best homemade pizza any of them had ever had, Gideon had cooked Italian, Garcia introduced them to a vegetarian casserole, Elle had used one of her mother's recipes to cook a traditional Cuban meal, JJ had made macaroni and cheese, and Morgan, surprisingly, knew how to bake, and had whipped up five different kinds of muffins. And now it was Reid's turn.

He was still pondering what he should attempt to cook when Elle entered the kitchen. "How's it going?" She asked with a smile.

He smiled back at her awkwardly. "Its not." She looked at him curiously. "I don't really know how to cook," he revealed embarrassed.

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

"I dunno," he answered quietly as he shrugged.

She laughed lightly. "You don't know how to cook anything?"

"Grilled cheese sandwiches," he mumbled.

"Well just do that, no one's gonna care." She observed the apprehensive look on his face. "I'll help."

He shook his head. "No, it's my turn."

"I insist," she protested smiling. She walked towards the fridge and opened the door. "So tell me what ya need." She bent over and poked her head inside of the refrigerator and Reid simply stared at her. The summer shorts that she was wearing were already fairly tight but as she bent over and shifted her weight, the material spread perfectly across her backside.

Reid snapped back into reality when he heard his name. "What?" He replied flustered. She stood up straight and looked at him with a smirk on her face. "What?" He repeated.

She shook her head as she continued to smirk. "Nothing," she lied. She was fully aware that the young man had been checking her out. Any heterosexual male, genius or not, couldn't resist looking at a girl's ass when she bent over.

"You're lying," he said boldly.

She laughed, "Right I forgot, you're profiler extraordinaire."

"Don't make fun," he said sulkily.

"I'm not," she said laughing again. "I wish I had your job."

"Really?" He responded slightly surprised.

She nodded. "Yup, wanted to do it since I was 16." He looked at her in amazement but she quickly changed the subject. "Now, what do you need from the fridge?" He hesitated so she placed a hand on his chest and lightly pushed him back. "Don't make me beat up the profiler."

He smiled timidly. "Cheese."

-----------------------

"Reid those were the best grilled cheese sandwiches that I've ever had," Elle said supportively after they had finished eating dinner.

He smiled shyly. "Thank you."

"Yeah Reid I didn't know that you could cook anything," Hotch uncharacteristically laughed.

"Man I haven't had grilled cheese sandwiches since I left my Mom's house," Morgan said as he reflected.

"And when did you leave home? Was that just before you came here?" Garcia asked with a teasing smirk on her face.

"Ha ha, very funny baby girl," he responded smiling.

"Awe home," JJ laughed lightly after she sighed wishfully.

"You miss home JJ?" Garcia asked curiously.

She nodded. "Yeah, well I'm from Pennsylvania but I consider New York home now, and yeah I miss the city and I miss my boyfriend," she hung her head as she blushed.

"I miss my wife," Hotch added to JJ's confession.

Emily noticed him make eye contact with her after he had spoken and it prompted her to say, "Yeah, I miss my fiancé." She paused before she turned to the brunette to her right. "Do you miss Seattle Elle?"

She shook her head. "Not really, it rains all the time and the coffee is expensive," she smiled playfully. "I'm pretty content here."

Reid blushed as he felt as though she had made her statement while looking at him. "I don't miss D.C., I only recently moved so I'm still getting used to it."

"Well Chicago is my home," Morgan spoke next, "and I miss it. Just everything about it, I've never lived anywhere else."

Garcia smiled at him from across the table. "I feel the same way about San Francisco."

Reid hesitantly glanced at his mentor. "Where are you from Gideon?"

"Chicago actually but I haven't lived there in years. I guess D.C. would be home."

"I'm not sure where I would consider home," Rossi said as he puzzled the statement himself. "Probably Virginia, I've spent the most time there but I grew up in Brooklyn."

Elle smiled to herself. "Me too."

Their relaxed dinner conversation was interrupted by a ringing cell phone. Gideon pulled it out of his jeans pocket, recognizing that the ring tone was his. "Yeah," he answered as a greeting. The call was short and he quickly snapped his cell phone together and looked solemnly at his companions. "That was Lincoln, SWAT just raided what they believed to be a base in Baltimore and it was empty. They estimated that there were at least six men living there and they're on the move." He paused and looked at Morgan, "You were right, its homemade dynamite, they found large amounts of stray sawdust. We have to devise a plan of action for the 24 hours leading up to the address. We're going to be moved outta here in six days."

Everyone at the table took a deep breath, the pressure was building.

-----------------------

**Day 16…**

The nine adults sat around the living room eating breakfast, sipping on coffee or juice, and nibbling on toast or bagels. It was the earliest all of them had ever been up, 6:45 A.M. Rossi and Gideon were fully dressed and looked like they had been up for hours, and in all likelihood, they probably were. Hotch ran a hand through his hair in an effort to wake himself up, he was still in an old pair of sweat pants and a plain white t-shirt. Elle and JJ hadn't changed out of their NFL jerseys and were sitting on the carpeted floor as they shared a plate full of toast. Reid yawned sleepily as he stretched his long body. He had managed to pull on a t-shirt and pants over his boxers before he came downstairs but that was the extent of his energy. Emily smacked Garcia lightly on the arm as she caught her roommate drifting off into sleep, and Morgan leaned back in a chair with a drowsy look on his face as he had been the last to be dragged out of the comfort of his bed.

"Hotch," Gideon started, "you've organized assignments like this, what do you think?"

"Well," Hotch began but he paused to gather his thoughts. "You'll need agents surrounding the perimeter. If we believe that universities are the targets than we should have teams on all of the campuses, and SWAT agents on the roofs of the buildings across the street from the Capitol."

"Garcia, Lincoln said that he wants you at the Pentagon watching the video surveillance and relaying the information to us," Gideon told the sleepy blonde.

She nodded. "Okay."

"Where am I going to be?" JJ asked curiously.

"You'll most likely be at the Pentagon with Garcia," Rossi answered her question.

"I'll go with SWAT."

Gideon turned to Hotch and nodded. "Rossi and I will set up around the perimeter. Morgan, Prentiss, Elle, and Reid will go to the campuses."

Hotch got up out of the chair that he was sitting in. "I'm going to get the maps, draw out some plans."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I would like to thank my homie, PisceanPal23****, for continuing to review:) Love you:)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 9 – Forming Other Plans**

**Day 18…**

They had all their plans for the day of the presidential address drawn up, and since nothing is ever perfect, they also had their back-up plans established. They had been informed that extra security has been discreetly increased on university campuses and many convenience, hunting, and sporting goods stores are being watched for large amounts of potential supplies that could come in handy for terrorists. With the city preparing for the address it was common to see an overwhelming number of large enforcement in the street so any additional security measures were hardly noticed. Everything has managed to remain classified.

Unfortunately, Dr. Reid was anything but focused. Morgan's words about women and Elle's actions had been replaying in his head all day. He tried not to make eye contact at breakfast but it proved difficult and he was pretty sure that everyone in the house was picking up on his weird behaviour. His only saviour was that everyone was very busy. JJ had spent all morning on the phone talking to various members of the press, Garcia was spending much of her time researching for Morgan and Emily, and Hotch, Rossi, and Gideon were studying maps and going over their plans for what must have been the hundredth time.

They ate supper in silence for the first time since they entered the safe house. Nobody seemed to be in a mood to talk so each of them was left alone with their thoughts.

Rossi was feeling very sceptical about everything. Their plans were flawless…but only under certain circumstances. If the unsubs did anything unexpected then… Here he was, one of the men who had introduced the technique of profiling to the FBI, questioning its effectiveness. He'd dealt with terrorists before and they never drifted off script. They had a clear plan and they didn't divert from that. He was pretty sure that he knew what their plan was but there was always that anomaly….

Hotch barely touched his food. He was feeling sick and he wasn't sure if it was the nervousness and the tension of the situation that his most recent assignment was putting him in or if he was feeling guilty for being attracted to Emily. In all fairness, it was probably a combination of the two. He loved his wife very much, there was no question about that, they were high school sweethearts, Prom king and queen. He hated feeling something completely different and new when he looked at Emily Prentiss.

Elle never backed down from a challenge and this was what this was to her, a challenge. Sure, she has been flirting around with the doctor but when it came down to it she was completely focused. She was up to this task. She was both anxious and worried, a lot was resting on their shoulders but she was feeling confident. She was feeling confident in her intelligence and her abilities in the field and also in those of her housemates.

Reid ran through various statistics in his head as a means of distraction. If he thought about the assignment then he got too uneasy and if he thought about Elle, he got too worked up, he was after all, only 21. So instead, he sifted through his knowledge, he thought about everything from the populations of the smallest towns in the United States to the evidence provided indicating the existence of extra-terrestrial species, from physics laws such as the Law of Conservation of Momentum to the outbreak of the Bubonic Plague. He used his intelligence as his armour frequently and for now, it was working.

Emily awkwardly tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked up from her plate and glanced around the kitchen table. She was getting very frustrated with their whole situation in the safe house. Her fiancé was constantly asking her where she is, what she's doing, and when she's coming home, and the only responses that she can give him are 'I'm in D.C.', 'I'm working', and 'I don't know'. They hardly spoke now without fighting and she wasn't sure if she could handle it now with the presidential address drawing closer.

Morgan thought about the bomb impacts as he chewed on his food. These guys didn't aim to give a warning; they aimed to damage and injure. He was tossing around ideas about how to evacuate the campuses without drawing too much attention. He pondered a slow moving evacuation for a period of time before he realized that that would give the media time to gather if it was leaked. It was going to be extremely difficult.

Garcia wiggled her fingers under the table, she was a computer nerd but she did other things too. She had done an enormous amount of research today and she could feel it in her wrists and fingers. She was a self-taught hacker so this was the opposite end of the spectrum from what she did on a daily basis but she enjoyed it. She loved the feeling of supplying someone with information when they felt that a question was unanswerable. For as far back as she could remember, she had no idea what she actually wanted to do with her life and now at least she had some idea. She wasn't U.S. government material, she knew that, but now she could see a future for herself as a technical analyst.

JJ sighed heavily as a million thoughts rushed through her head at warp speed. She dealt with the media everyday but not in this capacity. What she was doing now was ten times more stressful than the job that she working at…but…it also gave her a rush that she had never experienced before, and it was definitely more emotionally fulfilling than what she was doing now. Whenever they had a break in the case, her eyes lit up and she felt more excited than when she scored the state championship winning goal for her high school's girl's varsity soccer team.

Gideon ran his hand through his hair as he thought about all of the potential victims. He had seen more dead bodies in his years than anyone should be subjected to, so he was shaken to the core by the possibility of mass murder/suicide. It is absolutely critical that they stop this before it even gets off of the ground. If they are one step behind the unsubs then it's over…as simple as that. They are playing a game of chess and it is critical for both sides to think two steps ahead.

After dinner, they cleaned up the kitchen and everyone decided to take their relaxation time alone, for the most part. Gideon settled in the living room and sat in a chair as he became immersed in a book he was reading. Rossi moved into his bedroom with his attention fully focused on the small notebook that he carried everywhere. Emily and Garcia were laughing at sitcoms on TV in the den. Morgan was spent of energy after being up all night constructing various types of bombs so he lay down for a nap in his bedroom. JJ took Garcia's perch in front of the computer screen and began writing emails to her family. Hotch sat on the front porch of the house as he chatted with his wife on the phone while Reid had gone searching for Elle. To his embarrassment he had found her in the bathroom. He apologized frantically but she laughed it off and said that it was fine for him to come in if he wanted to talk because she was only shaving her legs.

"Elle," Reid started hesitantly.

She glanced up at him. "Yeah."

"What do women want in men?"

She laughed lightly. "Umm well stuff like this is a pretty good start." She was lying in the bath in a light green bikini and he was sitting on the edge of the tub shaving her legs, which in his opinion were clean and smooth and didn't need to be shaved at all.

He gave her a small smile. "No, really."

"Well ultimately, women just want a man who wants them," she explained simply. He raised a confused eyebrow and she laughed. "But more specifically, if a man really wants a woman and he treats her right, she'll fall in love with him."

"Are you serious?"

She laughed, "In a perfect world."

He smiled shyly. "What about for a guy like me?" He waited for her reply, nervously chewing on his bottom lip.

"Dr. Reid, do you like a girl?" She asked with a smirk on her face. He hung his head and attempted to hide his blushing face but he failed. "Well you won't have a problem."

"What?" He asked puzzled.

"Reid you're cute, smart, and sweet, you have a stable job and you make really good money." She giggled, "And you have big, brown, puppy dog eyes and girls love that. I'm sure that whoever you like will want to go out with you," she replied smiling. "Just ask her out."

He smiled to himself for a second as he concentrated on her legs but then they made eye contact again. "So will you go out with me?"

She laughed lightly before she realized that he was being serious. "Reid," she spoke quietly as she leaned forward in the bathtub. "I don't think that I'm exactly you're type."

"Why not?" He asked trying to cover up his disappointment. He finished his task and carefully laid the razor on the bathroom vanity. "I don't have a type."

She sighed heavily. "I'm a woman in the FBI and you know what that means, that I can be a sickeningly independent, controlling bitch. No offence but I need a guy who's really assertive, not afraid to boss me around every now and then or set me straight about my attitude. You're really sweet but you're not for me."

"That's fine," he nodded understandingly. "I just thought that you were flirting with me." He got to his feet and stood in the middle of the room.

She stood up in the bathtub and grabbed a towel. "Well I guess I was," she explained as she wrapped a towel around her body and stepped onto the bathroom floor. "But not in a serious way."

He looked at her frustrated. "How was I supposed to tell the difference?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely. "I thought that you would have recognized that I was flirting with you the same way that Garcia flirts with Morgan."

"Well I'm not exactly as experienced as Morgan," he stated, his anger was surprisingly growing.

"I really am sorry," she repeated as she walked closer towards him.

He looked down at the floor and nodded before he looked up at her again. "No, no you were _really_ flirting with me!"

"What?" She asked shocked.

"You were being a tease!"

"I was not," she defended herself with an intensity that matched his.

"I mean you came into my room and woke me up, you fell asleep on my bed, you let me come into the bathroom when you were shaving your legs…I'm a guy and you were being a tease!" He gave her an uncharacteristic, smug grin. "And you enjoyed teasing me."

She scoffed, "I could kick your ass right now."

They stared into each others eyes before he placed his hands on her waist, pulled her in, and kissed her passionately. At first, she tried to pull back but he claimed her mouth and tightened his arms around her body and then she gave into his sweet kisses and opened her mouth to him. He pulled back when he needed air and laughed lightly. "Assertive enough for ya?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Shut up and kiss me again."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews:) And a special thanks to my beta (you know who you are :)) for the kind comments and suggestions. Love ya :) This is an Elle/Reid-centric chapter. Hope ya like it:)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 10 – The Aftermath**

**Day 19…**

Reid awoke the morning after his and Elle's passionate kiss with a bright smile on his face. He hopped out of bed with a newfound energy and showered and changed before he galloped downstairs.

The only person in the kitchen was Gideon. "Good morning," Reid greeted his mentor pleasantly.

Gideon nodded as he gestured towards the coffee pot. "Morning, coffee?" Reid nodded and walked towards the counter. He poured himself a cup of the caffeinated beverage as the older man took notice to his perky behaviour. "Did you find a lead?"

Reid looked at him confused. "What? Ohh…the case!" He shook his head. "No, I'm just awake and ready to work."

Gideon continued to look at him curiously. "Well that's good."

"So where's everybody else?" Reid asked quickly as his thoughts lay elsewhere.

"Dave is in the shower and I believe that everyone else is still asleep." He glanced down at his watch. "Reid, you do know that it's only six thirty right?"

Reid shook his head as his eyes widened. "No, I just woke up and I had a lot of energy so I got up."

Gideon laughed lightly. "Okay then, well we can talk about the case until everybody gets up."

Reid nodded as him and Gideon walked towards the kitchen table. They sat and chatted about various aspects of the case as they waited for their fellow housemates. Rossi came down to the kitchen first and quickly joined the conversation. It was almost as if Reid could feel his heart jump up in his throat every time he heard footsteps coming down the stairs but to his disappointment, Elle never came downstairs. Hotch appeared shortly after Rossi, Emily and Garcia came down together, as always, then Morgan, and finally JJ.

Reid did not want to appear too obvious so he waited for one of the girls to ask the question that he desperately needed an answer to. "Where's Elle?" Garcia asked curiously.

"Oh she's still in bed," JJ answered, "she's not feeling well."

"She's sick?" Hotch asked alarmed. The truth was that Reid was feeling the same way as Hotch but he refused to show it.

JJ nodded. "I'm bringing her up some tea."

"I'll do it," Reid spoke up eagerly as he hopped out of his chair. "I'm going back upstairs anyway," he added as he tried to be more casual.

"Sure," JJ replied as she passed him the mug of hot tea.

He walked very carefully out of the kitchen, up over the stairs and down the hallway to Elle and JJ's room. He lightly knocked on the partially opened door before he pushed it with his foot and stepped inside. "I brought you tea," he declared cheerfully.

Elle shot up in bed upon hearing his voice and quickly smoothed out her hair and pulled the blankets up to cover her legs. "Reid what are you…?"

He cut her off, "JJ was making it so I volunteered to bring it up." He walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge. He passed her the cup of tea and she quietly thanked him. "Are you sick?" He asked concerned.

"I just have a bad stomach." He reached forward to touch her forehead but she stopped him. "Don't, I'm not warm."

"What's wrong?" He inquired worried as he noticed the uneasy look on her face.

She laughed lightly to herself as she stared into her mug. "I…I was a little apprehensive about having to see you this morning." She smiled at the look of confusion on his face. "I kinda assumed that if I went down to breakfast than I would have to give you a bit of the cold shoulder around everybody and I didn't wanna do that."

"Oh…so what does that mean?" He asked embarrassed.

"I'm not sure…I mean we kissed because we got into an argument so maybe it means nothing…maybe it was just the moment," she replied slowly as she stared at him.

He shook his head. "I don't think so."

She laughed, "You're much more assertive than I took you for then." He gave her a small smile before he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. It was so pleasant and sweet that she drew in a ragged breath as soon as he pulled away. "Wow," she blurted out breathlessly.

He gave her a small smile. "Feel better and maybe we can talk later."

"Okay," she nodded. "Thanks for the tea."

He got to his feet and smiled down at her. "No problem." He left quietly and with a grin on his face. He had no idea where his new found confidence was coming from, if anything, he thought that being around her would make him more introverted, but obviously not. He wanted to prove to her that he was worth dating, even if it was for a very short period of time.

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Elle got up out of bed before noon and joined the other eight for lunch. They worked on their various uncompleted tasks until dinner and then decided to take the evening off to relax. After a game of darts, JJ went to bed early. Hotch, Morgan, Garcia, and Rossi were watching the news on the television in the den while Emily and Gideon played chess in the living room. Elle was watching the very close chess match until she announced that she was going to bed. Emily and Gideon managed to lose a moment of concentration to say goodnight and then she quickly made her way upstairs.

Instead of walking to the end of the hall, to hers and JJ's room, she stopped at Reid, Morgan, and Hotch's door. She quietly opened and closed the door to the bedroom that Reid was staying in and saw him reading on his bed. "Reid we need to talk," she said seriously.

He smiled brightly when he heard her voice. He turned towards her and quickly hopped off of the top bunk and onto the floor. "You look really pretty today." She blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear, a habit that was growing on him. He walked until he met her and bent down to kiss her softly on the lips.

He gave her a cute, timid smile and she couldn't help herself from giving in. She pulled back after a long, deep, intense kiss and he leaned in eagerly but she placed her hands on his chest to stop him. "We can't fool around."

He nodded. "No of course not, not here."

She shook her head. "No, I mean we can't…period." He had his arms wrapped around her so that their bodies were pressed against each other and she could tell how excited he was, his breathing was hitched, his heart was beating out of control, and blood had rushed below his belt.

"Why not?" He asked frowning.

She gently pushed him away and took a step backwards. "Because there's no point."

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

"I mean as soon as all this is over, I'm going back to Seattle, and I think that you're really sweet so I don't want to do that to you," she explained. "And more than that, even if we did fool around I think that it'll be kinda weird, I don't think that we're exactly compatible."

He smiled at her. "My New Years' resolution was to be less awkward around women but you make me really nervous but oddly enough more confident and I like that cuz it tells me that I really like you and I think that you're great." He smiled again as she blushed. "And I really _really_ like you and I think that that kiss that you just gave me says something quite opposite of we're not compatible."

"You gotta stop being really cute and sweet when I'm trying to stop things between us," she said laughing lightly. "And I may be FBI but I don't go out with good boys like you."

He started to slowly advance on her. "Yeah I am a good boy but I thought that that's why you think I'm cute." He stated smirking.

She sighed, "Yeah, you're really cute." He smirked at her mischievously. "But you're only 21."

"But you're only 25," he rebutted quickly.

"Why do you want to do this?" She asked sighing heavily.

He shrugged. "I dunno, I've never been this infatuated with a girl before, and as you said, I'm 21," he added with a smirk.

She walked up to him and kissed him fervently. "Okay," she spoke breathlessly once she pulled back, "but only for tonight."

He nodded excitedly. "Whatever you say." He was fully aware that he was willing to do anything he could to change her mind.

He walked over to the bunk beds and hopped up on the top one while she walked towards the door and flicked off the light switch. JJ was already asleep in her room so she hoped that the people downstairs would think that she and Reid were in bed as well. She quietly walked back towards the bed and he helped her onto the mattress.

He reached down and flicked on the bedside lamp. He shyly smiled at her as he lay down on his back and she climbed on top of him. She placed her hands on his shoulders as they began to kiss hungrily. He slipped his tongue inside her mouth and she moaned into his, he was a really good kisser. He slipped his hands under the back of her t-shirt and lightly tickled her back with his fingertips.

She pulled back from a kiss and giggled. "This is actually really…"

"Great," he cut her off.

She pressed her forehead against his and gave him a small smile. "I can't believe that I'm doing this with a good boy."

"I can be bad," he sulked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" She watched him reach down between them and undo his belt. "What do you want me to do?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

"Nothing," he answered quickly. "I'm really sorry for even suggesting anything by it."

She laughed, "Yeah you're really bad." He frowned and blushed. "But really sweet," she said smiling. She leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips. "Really sweet and cute and," she ran her fingers down his lips, "and uggh…you're so good." She laughed lightly as she sat up and ran her hands through her hair.

He propped himself up on his elbows and chewed on his bottom lip. "You're not attracted to me are you?" He asked awkwardly as he looked up at her.

She shook her head as she ran her hands down his chest and gently tugged on his t-shirt. "No, I'm pretty sure that I am. What would make you jump to that conclusion?" He shrugged as he turned bright red and she smiled. "No, I find you very attractive, I'm just afraid of a personality clash."

"Well I enjoy reading, watching movies, and doing crossword puzzles."

She simply smiled at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him up for a passionate kiss. When she pulled back, she smiled at the look of shock on his face. "I don't know why but I just got so unbelievably turned on by everything that you just said."

She shifted in his lap, causing him to let out a little whimper. "Please don't do that again."

She leaned in and kissed him again. "I'm sorry," she muttered against his lips. He began to kiss her hungrily and push his hands further up under the back of her shirt. She was forced to shift in his lap again as she deepened the kiss. He let out a second little whimper and she smirked to herself. She didn't like teasing him, especially when she knew that they would be going no further than this, but she did take enjoyment in the fact that she had this effect on him.

She cut a kiss short and gently grasped his wrist. "I should probably move to my room now," she said after she had seen his watch.

He pulled her body as close to his as possible. "Don't go," he begged moping.

She smiled as she ran a hand through his soft, brown hair. "If I stay any longer then we're gonna get caught."

"And if we're caught, that makes me bad," he replied smirking.

She giggled, "Yeah, you're a bad boy." She got up off of him and carefully hopped off of the bed.

He followed her onto the floor and she giggled. "What?" He asked self-consciously.

"Come here bad boy, you still have your belt undone." They smirked at each other as she fastened his belt. He rose up onto the balls of his feet as she pulled his belt a little tighter than she needed to. She leaned in, stood on the tips of her toes, and whispered in his ear, "I don't want any other girl getting in your pants before I do." She gently bit his earlobe. "I can't wait to get out of this house."

He swallowed nervously. "But what about what you said about this only being for tonight."

"Well you made me change my mind," she responded as she slowly ran her hands up his body, from his belt to his shoulders. "I really like you, bad boy," she said smirking at him seductively. He smiled shyly as she softly kissed him again. "I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast."

He nodded. "Yeah, I'll try to remain calm." They joined for another kiss and he slowly, and boldly, moved his hands down to her butt. She pulled back and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry," he blushed as he brought his hands back up to her waist.

"No," she smirked as she placed her hands over his. "It was a pleasant surprise, I liked it." She kissed him again. "I like little acts of boldness like that." She bit down on her bottom lip as she looked him up and down.

"What?" He asked self-consciously as he felt hot under her gaze.

She simply smiled at him, actually she was unable to do anything but smile. "Goodnight Dr. Reid."

"Goodnight Elle," he replied cutely. He watched her leave the room with a smile on his face. He had to prevent himself for exploding with excitement when she closed the door behind her. A woman who was unbelievably gorgeous had been sitting in his lap while she told him that she was attracted to him, and then she had made suggestions about how she wanted to do a lot more than simply make out when they got out of the safe house. He hopped onto the top bunk and felt like he was 16 all over again. "She wants you," he smirked to himself, "yeah, she wants you."

Meanwhile, Elle snuck into her room as quietly as her body would allow her. She quickly changed into her pyjamas and climbed underneath the warm covers of her bed. She was about to let out a sigh of relief when her roommate spoke up. "And where were you?" She could almost hear the smile in JJ's voice.

"I was downstairs with everybody else," she lied.

JJ laughed to herself. "No, you weren't. Garcia came up like ten minutes ago to say goodnight and she asked where you were."

"Oh that's cuz I was in the living room and Garcia was in the den."

"Uh huh, yeah sure," JJ replied, she did not believe a word of the brunette's story. "Goodnight," she added, giving up on getting any more information out of the FBI agent.

"Night." Elle sighed as she rolled over so that she faced the wall. She was aware that she had done a horrendous job on her cover story and that she hadn't fooled JJ. She just hoped that the blonde didn't jump to the conclusion that was actually the truth.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So sorry for the super long wait but life's been busy, you know how it is.But here is the next chapter...finally! Hope you like:)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 11 – Preparation For The Outside World**

**Day 20…**

Elle giggled quietly as her and Reid continued to kiss.

She had gone to the main bathroom upstairs five minutes earlier because Emily was occupying the girl's washroom. She had just finished brushing her teeth and was about to leave when Reid opened the door. He immediately apologized for barging in on her but she simply smiled and motioned for him to close the door behind him. She had hopped up onto the bathroom vanity and pulled him in for a kiss.

"Maybe we should stop," she laughed breathlessly as she ran a hand through his soft, brown hair. He inched closer towards her, she was sitting on top of the bathroom vanity and he was standing between her spread legs so he laughed awkwardly as he collided with the vanity edge. He discreetly placed his hand on her bare knee and slowly dragged it up her thigh until it was hidden under her baggy, NFL jersey. He leaned in again and kissed her eagerly. She pulled back and giggled. "Maybe we should stop," she suggested again.

He cutely shook his head. "Its early, nobody else that's upstairs is awake."

"For an FBI agent you're not very cautious," she teased. "Emily is up." He playfully nuzzled her neck and she giggled, "Reid, stop it, bad boy."

He looked up at her and smirked as he gently tickled the inside of her thigh. "Okay maybe we should go down and get some breakfast."

"Yes and no more making out until we're alone."

"So what's happening after tomorrow? When are you going back to Seattle?" He asked nervously as he looked down at his feet with an overwhelming intensity.

"I believe that I am going back to Seattle on Sunday."

"So," he chewed on his bottom lip as he thought. "Does that mean that if all goes well, we can spend Friday night and Saturday night together?" He asked hopefully.

"What about Friday night and Saturday morning?" She asked seductively with her lips pressed against his.

He swallowed nervously before he responded. "Awesome," he spoke breathlessly, "that sounds awesome."

She smiled brightly, "I had a feeling you'd think so."

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Elle cooked breakfast while Reid happily watched. They occasionally stole quick kisses until they heard footsteps coming down over the stairs. Emily appeared in the kitchen and Elle smiled warmly. "Hey Em, you want breakfast?"

"Yes," she said as she reciprocated the smile, "please." She couldn't help but notice that Reid was absentmindedly staring out the window just above the sink. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he whistled pleasantly. "Morning Reid."

He whirled around and smiled brightly. "Good morning Emily." She looked at him curiously and was about to inquire as to why the young genius was so vibrant but the question vanished from her mind when she heard her roommate's voice.

"Good morning people," Garcia greeted them as she stepped into the area. She took a seat at the kitchen table and let out a quiet sigh before she spoke again. "Can you believe that we're leaving here tomorrow?"

"I know, its crazy," Elle replied.

"It feels like we've been here forever as opposed to only three weeks," Emily added.

Their conversation was interrupted when Morgan stumbled into the kitchen, sleepily rubbing his head. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothin' gorgeous," Garcia smiled. "Aww you're sleepy," she teased as he sat across from her and yawned.

He laughed lightly, "I'm fine baby girl. I just need some food."

"Well that's good because Elle made breakfast," Reid told him excitedly. He smiled as he took a seat next to Morgan. "What do you think we're gonna do today?"

Morgan turned his head and studied the younger man inquisitively. "Did you take a Prozac this morning or something?"

He laughed lightly, "No, but I've been up longer than you have so my energy level is higher because the sleepiness has worn off. And Prozac or fluoxetine hydrochloride is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class. It is approved for the treatment of clinical depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia nervosa, and panic disorder."

Morgan stared at him in disbelief. "Riiiiggghhhttt."

"How do you know all this stuff?" Garcia asked curiously as she laughed lightly.

"I read a lot," he answered simply.

"Okay breakfast is ready!" Elle called out as she poured herself some coffee.

Everyone had just gotten themselves a full breakfast consisting of pancakes, bacon and eggs, one of Morgan's homemade muffins from earlier in the week, and a cup of coffee, when the others entered the kitchen. Hotch, JJ, Gideon, and Rossi all said their good mornings and promptly took up some breakfast and joined their housemates at the table.

"Who made breakfast this morning?" Gideon asked after he had taken a bite out of the delicious pancakes.

"Elle did," Reid answered him smiling.

Gideon nodded. "Well its great," he complimented politely.

"Thanks," Elle replied smiling.

Meanwhile, JJ observed her roommate's actions enquiringly. Elle had left their room very early this morning and she had a feeling that it was to do more than just make breakfast.

"So what are we doing today?" Reid asked for the second time this morning. The youngest member of the task force was extremely eager to plot out the day's activities.

"Just get ready to leave," Gideon responded.

"There are a lot of things that we can use in the closet," Rossi spoke up. "I discovered it the first night here. Flack jackets, vests, firearms, two-way radios, earpieces…we're probably meant to take them with us."

"What time are we leaving exactly?" Morgan asked.

"I was talking to Lincoln last night, we're getting picked up at eight o'clock sharp tomorrow morning," Gideon explained. "I think that the best thing to do today is to pack up and relax."

Rossi, as the only agent superior to Jason Gideon in experience, nodded at his friend's statement while the younger agents took it as an order. If Jason Gideon felt that the best thing to do today was to relax and take a moment to breathe, compose, and ready themselves that that's what they're going to do.

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By the evening, everyone's bags were packed, except for the things that they would need in the morning, and they were all relaxing or as Garcia said, "They were chillin'." Emily had decided to take Gideon up on a game of chess while the rest of them hung out in the den. JJ shot darts with Morgan and the others watched television.

"I feel like I'm in a bubble," Garcia declared as they flicked from news station to news station.

"I feel the same way," JJ agreed. "But according to my friends in the press the presidential address isn't getting any more attention than usual."

"That's good," Rossi nodded.

"Have you ever worked a case like this Agent Rossi?" Reid asked curiously as he sat on the den floor and looked up at the admired agent.

He shook his head. "I have worked terrorist cases before but nothing like this."

"So what should we do?" Elle asked attempting to seek some wisdom from one of the men who had started the BAU.

"Gideon's right, we need to relax. It's very important to have your head in the right place before you go into something like this. We have a game plan and that's what matters," he answered calmly. He gave them a small uncharacteristic smile, "And with that, I'm off to bed."

"Goodnight," they all said pleasantly as Rossi got up off of the couch and left the den.

"He's brilliant," Reid stated slightly awestruck.

Morgan nodded in agreement. "People said that he couldn't interview serial killers and he did."

"So he started the BAU?" Garcia asked interestedly.

Reid nodded, "Yeah." Elle glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and gave him a small smirk. It was easy to tell that he looked up to the two veteran agents, Rossi and Gideon. He noticed that she was smirking at him and immediately looked away as his face became flushed.

Luckily for them, the exchange had gone unnoticed as Garcia had changed the subject again. "I think that I'm gonna turn in too. We have an early rise."

Morgan smiled at her. "Come on mama, I'll walk you to your room."

The others laughed as they left the den together but then everyone fell into an awkward silence. JJ continued to throw darts at the board as she said insecurely, "Is it foolish that I want to call home tomorrow?"

Hotch, who had not spoken since dinner, finally opened his mouth. "No," he told her bluntly. "No, that's not foolish at all," he added solemnly as he got to his feet. "Goodnight everyone."

"Goodnight Hotch," Elle replied quietly as the tall, BAU agent left the room.

JJ turned to her roommate and raised an eyebrow. "That was intense."

Reid laughed lightly, "That's Hotch. He's very serious about his job and his family."

Suddenly, JJyawned and laughed. "I think that's a sign for me to go to bed."

Elle pushed herself up off of the den floor as she said, "Yeah I'll come with you." JJ walked out of the room ahead of her and Elle quickly swivelled around and placed a soft kiss on Reid's lips just as he was getting to his feet. "Night Reid," she smirked.

He looked at her in disbelief. "Goodnight Elle," he responded in a high-pitched voice.

Reid was the last one left downstairs as he walked into the living room and discovered that Emily and Gideon had also gone to bed. He flicked off all of the lights and quietly made his way upstairs and into his bedroom.

-----------------------

Hotch awoke in the middle of the night and glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table, it read 2:45 A.M. He tossed and turned until he realized that he was not getting back to sleep. He pulled himself up out of bed and glanced over at his sleeping roommates. Reid had the blankets pulled up over his head to the point where the only body part that could be seen were his two large feet hanging over the edge of the bed and Morgan was snoring, signalling that he was also deep in sleep.

He walked down the stairs and got himself a glass of milk before he got a craving for fresh air. "I see that I'm not the only one who had fresh air on their mind," he stated laughing as he stepped out onto the back porch and took a seat next to Emily on the top step.

"Yeah, I was in the mood for fresh air and cancer," she replied sarcastically before she took a long draw from her lit cigarette.

"So why are you really up?" He asked curiously.

She turned towards him. "Why are you really up?"

He smiled, "I told you, couldn't sleep, fresh sir."

"Okay then, couldn't sleep, fresh air, cigarette." She took another draw from a cigarette and a deep breath before she said, "The rumour around the office is that I'm getting transferred."

"Okay…" Hotch began confused but she cut him off.

"And Ryan wants to know what we're gonna do if I am transferred and I told him that I don't wanna talk about it now and he flew off the handle and we got into this huge fight and," she stopped to finish her cigarette and immediately lit up another one. "I dunno," she said as she blew smoke out of her mouth, "did you ever think that you were in love with the idea of someone rather than that someone?"

"What?" He asked laughing lightly.

She turned her neck to see his face and laughed at the look of bewilderment. "I mean, I'm supposed to be getting married and you're married, so you can understand. I'm beginning to think that I'm in love with _the idea_ of being in love with Ryan and spending the rest of my life happily married to him rather than actually being in love with him." She took a long pause, "Did you ever feel that way?"

He stared up at the night sky blanketed with stars. "No," he shook his head, "no."

"So what do I do?" She asked saddened.

He gently pried the cigarette out of her fingers and put it to his mouth. "I can't answer that for you," he replied once he finished his draw.

She lightly punched his shoulder. "Well thanks for nothing Hotch."

He gave her a small smile as she snatched her cigarette back. "You knew that I wasn't going to give you an answer."

"I know," she nodded. "I just don't know what to do," she declared frustrated as she ran her free hand through her shoulder length, black hair.

"Well I'm sorry that I can't help you but I do think that we should get back to bed now because," he glanced down at his watch, "we have to get up in two hours."

She finished her cigarette and flicked it into the bushes before she got to her feet. "Yeah, you're right."

He stood up beside her and took a moment before he pulled her into a tight embrace. She buried her head in his shoulder and he kissed her softly on the top of her head. "I'm sorry, this is all the comfort that my conscious will allow me to give you," he whispered.

"Its okay," she muttered into his t-shirt as she wrapped her arms around his lower back.

They separated after a long time and walked up the stairs together until they were forced to part ways and enter their respective rooms.

-----------------------

**Day 21…**

Everyone was in the kitchen by 7:15 A.M. as they had all strategically set their alarm clocks so that they would all have the time to shower. They brought their bags to the porch before they sat at the kitchen table and ate a breakfast of cereal, muffins, and coffee.

They were all anxious and ready to leave when they heard the front door open and Lincoln entered the kitchen at exactly eight o'clock. "Good morning," he greeted them smiling. "So the plan is to set you guys up in a hotel in Georgetown for the night and we'll have the briefing this afternoon to insure that everyone will have enough time tonight to rest and relax. We need you all at your best."

After Lincoln's words, they brought out their bags to an SUV waiting outside and then Hotch, Gideon, Rossi, and Morgan emptied the contents of the porch closet and loaded up the second SUV with FBI gear. They dispersed themselves between the two vehicles and Lincoln was the last to board an SUV as he pulled the front door of the safe house closed.


	12. Chapter 12

****

**A/N: Sorry for the spacey postings, life has been busy! Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters. I also do not own the Matchbox 20 song "How Far We've Come" from which I borrowed this chapter title. lol :)**

**Chapter 12 – Say Your Goodbyes, If You Have Someone to Say Goodbye To**

They reached Washington D.C. after a 40 minute drive which felt like an eternity. They were allowed to settle into the hotel before they were escorted to FBI Headquarters. After the very lengthy briefing, which took them through lunch and dinner, the entire group was ready to turn in. They separated to enter their much appreciated single hotel rooms. It was great for all of them to grow close while they were living in the safe house but the privacy of their own rooms was needed tonight. 

Rossi sat in a chair in his hotel room and flicked through his small notebook. He did not have anyone to say goodbye to, if that was even necessary. His parents have been dead for years, he wasn't close enough to any of his siblings, and his ex-wife hasn't spoken to him in years and they didn't have any children. This was his reflection time. He lingered on specific notes that he had made during their time in the safe house, not about the case but about the individuals who he had met for the first time.

_Derek Morgan: has a "tough guy" persona built up to hide something about himself. However, he is very calm and composed around his peers and befriends people very easily but trust is probably hard to earn._

_Emily Prentiss: possesses an integrity that is not usually wedded to a daughter of a politician. Has a natural intelligence that rivals agents twice her age and more importantly, she already has a world's worth of life experience. _

_Penelope Garcia: has not yet tapped into the depths of her intelligence. Underestimates herself, has a low level of self-esteem probably stemming from adolescence. _

_Spencer Reid: intelligent, insecure, probably because of his age. Seems to be easily distracted by the attractive female presence but again this is because of his age, will be a valuable profiler with time._

_Jennifer Jareau: Confident and has a natural instinct. The young blonde would be a welcomed aspect to the incompetent press department of the FBI._

_Elle Greenaway: hungry, that would be the best description for the young sex crimes agent. Hungry, ambitious, and determined, has the potential to go as far as her emotions will allow her to go._

He closed up his notebook and flicked off the bedside lamp. He decided to turn in for the night and rest for tomorrow. 

"Hey Haley," Hotch spoke to his wife pleasantly. He wished that he could make the 20 minute drive to his house to see his wife in person but he was advised against it. But it was so close!

"Hey Aaron," she responded, just as happy to hear her husband's voice. "When are you coming home? The house has been so empty without you."

He smiled to himself. "If everything goes as planned than I'll be home tomorrow night."

"Really?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah," he laughed.

"Oh that'll be so great; I'll get to have you for a weekend before you go back to work."

"Yup, just the two of us."

She could practically hear the smirk in his voice. "Aaron Hotchner, what do you have planned?"

He laughed lightly, "Oh you'll see." He decided to keep the playful banter going for two reasons. First of all, he didn't want anything about his voice or choice of words to signal to her that anything was wrong and also, it was fun.

"Oh baby, someone is beeping in, gimme a minute," she said regretfully.

"Yeah sure."

She was gone for a brief period of time and then he heard her voice again. "It's my mother."

He laughed, "Okay, I'll let you go, and I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled happily. "Love you."

"I love you too baby," she replied dreamily.

He smiled as he hung up the phone. Him and Haley's two year anniversary was approaching and he hoped that a serial criminal did not interfere with their celebration. They're high school sweethearts and he planned on spending the rest of his life with her. He turned down the covers of the bed and collapsed onto the mattress in exhaustion as he continued to think about his wife.

Elle lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling. So many thoughts were racing across her mind that she wasn't completely focused on anything. Without even knowing how it got there, her hand reached towards the bedside table and picked up the phone. She sat up on the edge of the bed and dialled her little sister's number. Her father died when she was eight and her mother passed away last year from cancer, so her sister was all that she had left.

"Hello," Nicole Greenaway answered cheerily.

"Hey Nikki, what's up?" Elle asked through a bright smile.

"Nothing," she laughed lightly. "I wasn't expecting you to call; I haven't spoken to you in like three weeks."

"I know and I'm sorry but I've been busy working in Washington," Elle apologized. "So what have you been doing?"

"Been worried about you, you stupid beotch!" Nicole laughed lightly, "I just called your house one day and got the machine and then I tried your cell and got the voicemail and this went on for three weeks and I thought that something might of happened to you."

Elle smiled sadly to herself. "I'm really sorry but I was just kinda whisked away for this job and we've been kinda forced into isolation."

"What are you doing?" Her sister's explanation peaked Nicole's curiosity.

"That's classified," Elle teased.

Nicole laughed, "Funny, FBI skank, really funny."

Elle laughed along with her 19-year-old sister. "I met a really cute guy though."

"Oooo details!" Nicole replied excitedly. "Seriously, gimme the dets."

"Well nothing's really happened, we just clicked and we've made out and he's a cutie," she giggled like a teenage girl.

"Aww Ellie, you're smitten."

"Shut up." Elle laughed before she took a deep breath. "I love you kido."

Nicole laughed, "Touching moment brought to you by Elle Greenaway."

Elle laughed along with her. "Shut up and be serious for a moment."

"I love you too," she replied.

Elle smiled into the receiver. "I'm gonna go to bed now but I'll see ya soon."

"Looking forward to it. See ya."

Elle hung up the phone and was determined to fight back the tears that were trying their best to escape. She fell back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling until sleep claimed her. 

Reid sat at the desk in his hotel room and began yet another letter to his mentally ill mother. His mother, who has been hospitalized for three years now, is a paranoid schizophrenic living in Benington Sanatorium in Las Vegas. The young PhD left his hometown a little over a month ago to start the job for which he had been groomed for and as compensation, started writing daily letters to his mother. He placed the date in the corner and began to write as thoughts came to his mind.

_Dear Mom,_

_I'm sorry that I have not sent a letter in a while but I did not have any access to a mail box or post office. So I have three weeks worth of letters that will be arriving at the one time._

_I hope that you're feeling well, the last time that I checked in Ms. Abbot told me that you've been remarkable and that's great. My new job at the BAU is hectic and time consuming but for my yearly vacation periods, I get two weeks next month so I will be coming home to see you._

_This latest case has been something completely new for me and tomorrow is going to be a very important day. Hopefully by the time that you receive this, you will have scene the desired outcome on television, hopefully. I have been working with Agent David Rossi, one of the men who started the BAU, and I've learnt a lot from him. I have also been working with others who have taught me things. My knowledge has expanded in many areas including the kitchen, the opposite sex, foreign diplomacy, computer technology, and popular culture. I've met a woman and I think that you would really like her. Her name is Elle Greenaway and she's intelligent, beautiful, and she works at the FBI Field Office in Seattle. I know that I shouldn't become attached to her because she's leaving in three days but I can't help it. She's really special and I'm actually willing to risk hurting in the end if it means spending the next few days happy._

_Well it's getting late and as I have said, tomorrow is a very important day. Goodnight mother. I love you._

_Love Spencer_

He folded the piece of paper and placed it into an envelope. He sealed it and scribbled the familiar address. He opened his messenger bag and placed his newest letter with the others that had to be mailed. He turned off the desk lamp and got ready for bed.

Emily sat on the edge of her bed and clutched the receiver of the hotel room's phone. She was debating between two numbers. She wondered if she should try to give it another try with her fiancé or call her mother. Neither option was overwhelmingly appealing at the moment but it felt right. She sighed before she dialled a number and someone picked up on the other end.

"Hi mother."

"Hello Emily," Elizabeth Prentiss answered surprised. "Are you still in Washington?"

"Yeah, I'm still in Washington; I think I'm leaving on Sunday."

"What are you doing anyway?" She asked inquisitively.

Emily laughed, "Work." She cleared her throat before she spoke again. "I know that this isn't what you wanted me to do with my life but its right for me and I just needed to tell you that."

"Okay…"

"And I'm sure that I've never lived up to your expectations but I'm proud of what I've done with my life."

"Emily, I am very proud of you," her mother told her quietly, "and I'm sorry that you didn't know that."

A small smile broke through on her face. "You have no idea how long I've waited for you to say that."

"Well I'm sorry."

"Goodnight mother, I love you," she smiled into the receiver.

"I love you too Emily."

"Bye Mom."

She hung up the phone and slipped under the covers of her bed. Her mind was now at peace, at least enough to fall sleep.

Morgan smiled as his room phone rang. He had called his mother a half an hour ago and had gotten no answer, so he had left a message on her machine telling her the name of the hotel that he was staying at and his room number.

He answered the phone pleasantly. "Hey Ma."

"Hey baby, you left a message on the machine."

"Yeah, I just wanted to tell you that I'm basically finished here and that I'll be home on Sunday," he explained calmly.

"Oh that's great," she answered excitedly.

"Yeah, I'm just tying up some loose ends and stuff." The last thing that he wanted was to get his mother worked up and worried.

"Are you having a good time at this seminar or whatever you called it?" Fran Morgan asked laughing.

Her son laughed along with her. "Yeah Mom I am." He had lied to his mother about why he had to go to Washington D.C. because he did not want her thinking that her baby boy was doing anything dangerous. "There are some pretty cool people here."

"Well that's good that they're nice."

Morgan laughed again; sometimes his mother still treated him like a child. "Yeah Ma, they're nice."

"Its late there honey, shouldn't you be getting to bed?" She asked caringly.

He laughed once again. "Yeah Ma, I probably should. I'll see you on Sunday, love ya."

"Love you too sweetheart."

He gently hung up the phone with a smile on his face. Then he stripped down to his boxers and got under the warm blankets of the comfortable hotel bed.

Garcia sat cross-legged on her bed with her laptop in front of her. With full knowledge of what was expected of them tomorrow she felt sentimental and decided to email her brothers. She typed each of their four email addresses into the "To:" box before she prepared to write.

_Hey bros! What's up? Just checking in on my brothers who are scattered across the country, (LA, Miami, Denver, and St. Louis to be exact). How are my nieces and nephews doing? Good I hope! The baby of the family is doing fine here in D.C. I got a three week stint as a technical analyst and I'm hoping to turn it into an actual job. Fingers crossed. I may finally be getting my life together and I know that you're glad to hear that since I haven't been the easiest person to be related to since Mom and Dad died. Just do me a favour okay? Stay close to televisions tomorrow please. I can't explain why but just trust me. It may actually give you a reason to smile, jump up and down, point excitedly, and yell to anyone who will listen, "That's my sister!" I know that sounds crazy but hopefully you'll see. Well its getting late out here and I need my beauty sleep. I love you guys and I appreciate everything that you've done over the past couple of years even though we're not that close now. I miss having my big brothers around all the time._

_Hugs and kisses,_

_Penelope _

She clicked "Send" and then put the cover down on her laptop. She let out the breath that she didn't even realize she was holding in. She changed into her comfy, flannel pyjamas and climbed into bed.

JJ went straight for the phone as she began to cry. She dialled a familiar, unfortunately sometimes neglected, phone number. 

"Hey Dad," JJ choked through tears.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Her father asked concerned.

JJ adjusted her cell phone to nestle comfortably between her ear and shoulder before she sat down on the bed. "Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you."

"Honey, something is wrong, you're crying, so just tell me," he pleaded.

JJ sighed heavily. She knew that she couldn't leak information, even to her own father, so she was going to have to use the same skills that she applied to avert the media's attention. "Dad I'm going to be part of something really big tomorrow…"

"Jennifer what are you talking about?" Her father asked confused.

"You'll see tomorrow but I just needed to say goodbye and that I love you."

"Jenny what's going on?"

JJ ignored her father's question. "And tell Mom and my baby brother that I love them too."

"Okay baby," John Jareau agreed even though his daughter's words and tone of voice scared him.

"When I'm finished here I'm coming back home for a visit okay." JJ told her father as she continued to brush the tears away from her eyes.

"Okay."

"Bye Daddy."

"Bye honey and I love you too."

JJ smiled to herself before she turned off her cell phone and got in her bed.

Gideon pulled back the curtains on the window of his hotel room and gazed out into the busy night scene. He looked down upon the street and watched cars speed by. He glanced back up and noticed that he could just see the Capitol Building. He ran his hand through his hair out of nervous habit as he turned his back on the window.

He stared at the bedside table for a moment before perishing his thoughts of making a phone call. Neither his recently divorced wife nor his son wanted to hear from him. Even if he was calling just to apologize. In his 23 years of marriage, he had been an adequate husband and an even worse father. For the BAU's most gifted profiler, divorce was inevitable.

He walked back towards the window and pulled the blinds to. He remembered 9/11 and he knew that the country could not handle that again. Another attack on U.S. soil was almost unimaginable. Unfathomable. It could not happen and he had full confidence that every person on his team was aware of that. The task force that he was leading was very intelligent and capable, and they were ready for tomorrow.

He changed into his sleepwear and looked over his notes one last time before he climbed into the bed. He continued to process the magnitude of tomorrow's events as he reached for the bedside lamp. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was 12:24 A.M. Tomorrow was already here. 

**A/N: The next chapter is _the day_ so please review! :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, been busy! Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter and to PisceanPal23 for beta reading! :) Hope you enjoy chapter 13! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 13 – Standing at the Edge of the World**

**Day 22…**

The wakeup call was 5:30 A.M. and everyone showered and dressed before they made their way down to the dining room. The nine of them sat at a long table together while they were eating their breakfast. The nerves were evident; so much so that some barely touched their food, others barely spoke. The pressure that they were feeling was unprecedented by anything else that they had done in their lives and the tension was so high that the air felt sickeningly thick.

"How many universities are there in D.C. again?" Elle whispered to Reid who was sitting on her right side.

"18," he whispered back.

"18," she quietly repeated to herself.

A few minutes later, Gideon's cell phone rang and after a short conversation, he got up from the table. "The SUVs are outside to pick us up."

The remaining eight got up as well and followed Gideon out of the hotel.

--

"Okay! First thing's first!" Lincoln announced surprisingly upbeat as they all sat at a table in the bunker of the Pentagon. "Let's all set our watches, it is currently," he glanced down at his watch, "25 minutes after six." He opened a folder that was in his hands and began to read out the contents to the nine people before him. "As we discussed yesterday, Agent Hotchner you will be with SWAT leader Agent English. Agents Gideon and Rossi will be part of the undercover team who will be dispensing themselves around the perimeter. Agents Morgan, Prentiss, Greenaway, and Reid, each of you will be in charge of a small unit on a university campus. Ms. Garcia you will stay here with me and monitor the surveillance footage."

Morgan gently nudged Garcia in the ribs. "You're going to be our eyes and ears baby girl," he whispered comfortingly. She turned her neck and shot him a bright smile.

Lincoln turned to the next page in his file. "And Ms. Jareau, we changed the game plan from yesterday, we thought that it'd be better if you were out there looking like a member of the press instead of being here."

"Oh," JJ responded surprised. She was now more worried than she was before but she tried to disguise it as best as she could. "Okay then," she added portraying self-confidence.

Lincoln looked up from his folder and gave them a small smile. "Well that's it from me. All of you except for Ms. Garcia can go upstairs and get ready and the address is in four and a half hours."

They did as they were told and everyone, except Garcia, took the elevator upstairs.

"So where do I go?" Garcia asked awkwardly.

Lincoln smiled at her as he pointed to the area behind her. Garcia got up out of her chair and turned around. "Whoa," she said inarticulately. The level below her was a large room full of empty desks and ahead was a screen that took up the whole wall. All of a sudden, the large screen separated into numerous smaller screens with various pictures. "Whoa!"

"That's our surveillance," Lincoln told her as he came to stand at her side. "And down there are the best computer systems in the country so take the elevator down, pick one, and get comfortable."

Meanwhile……

Hotch made sure that both of his firearms were secure, one on his belt and the other on the inside of his right leg. He removed his suit jacket and put on a bullet proof vest and over that a flack jacket that had 'S.W.A.T.' across the back. He tested his two-way radio with the SWAT agent standing next to him before he hooked it onto his belt. All of the SWAT agents were breaking up into 12 teams, each with a different position and name distinguished by a number from the 12 hour clock. His team, or rather Agent English's team, would be directly facing the Capitol Building and would be referred to as six o'clock on the two-way radios.

He was prepared early, a trend that he had developed very early in life, and decided to walk over to the young blonde in the corner who was putting on her press pass. "How are you doing JJ?"

She gave him a forced smile. "Okay I guess, how am I supposed to be doing?"

He laughed lightly before he turned serious again. "I'm going be up on a roof so I'll keep an eye out okay?" She nodded. "Ever used a gun before?"

She looked at him shocked. "No."

He bent down and grabbed the gun out of its holster on the inside of his leg. He showed her the safety before he passed it to her, "Just aim and fire."

She nodded as she accepted the firearm. "Hopefully I won't need this," she said as she tucked it into the back of her dress pants and covered it using her black blazer.

Rossi and Gideon did the same as JJ, tucking their guns into the back of their jeans, before putting on their bullet proof vests and pulling on plain jackets. Since they were going undercover, they pulled up the zippers high enough to disguise the vests and made sure that their earpieces were perfectly adjusted so that they were only visible from very close range. Both men were experienced enough that they had, at some point in their careers, gone undercover and the thought of a new assignment didn't rattle them.

The younger agents all stood in the same area as they geared up. Each one pulled on a bullet proof vest under a FBI flack jacket and adjusted their firearm on their belt.

Reid carefully held his earpiece and the tiny microphone in his hand as he looked around curiously. Elle turned towards him and smiled. "Do you want me to help you with that?"

He blushed and looked down at his feet embarrassed. "Yes please."

She smiled as she took the earpiece out of his hand and fitted it to his right ear. She smirked to herself as her fingertips touched his neck and ear and he shivered. "Okay where do you want your mic?"

"Umm I dunno," he answered awkwardly. He had never before gone on a raid with the BAU that required him to wear a wire so he was completely clueless right now.

She smiled warmly again. "Okay you can wear it under the collar of your dress shirt like Morgan or on the inside of your sleeve like me." She brought her right wrist up to her face and spoke into her sleeve as a demonstration. "Whatever you're comfortable with."

"Umm I think that I'll take the sleeve."

"Okay," she took the tiny microphone out of his hand and clipped it onto the right cuff of his dress shirt. She smoothed out the wrinkles in his sleeve before she looked up at him and smiled. "Okay you're good to go."

"Thanks," he said gratefully. She had saved him from looking like an unprepared boy in front of everyone.

Reid, in particular, was not fond of parting with his companions from the safe house but he would be leading a small unit to American University, and Elle, Morgan, and Emily would be doing the same with units to George Washington University, Potomac College, and Gallaudet University, respectively. The young genius was exceptionally nervous to leave his older, more qualified colleagues. He was not overly familiar with leading a team or using a firearm, if it unfortunately came to that.

His three peers that surrounded him seemed rather calm, at least if they were as uneasy as he felt than they weren't showing it. Emily was reviewing the map of the Gallaudet University campus that she would be using. While Morgan was acquainting himself with the agents in his unit, he was laughing and making polite conversation and Reid envied his social competency.

"Hey Reid, you ready?"

He swivelled around upon hearing the familiar voice of his mentor. "Yeah Gideon, I think so."

Gideon patted the young man on the shoulder. "I'm sure you are. Good luck."

SWAT leader, Agent English, got everyone's attention and gave the final briefing of today's plans. Then everyone double checked all of their equipment and tested their communication techniques before separating into their units and leaving at their assigned times.

--

Lincoln looked down at his watch. "Its only nine o'clock, loads of time," he told himself quietly. He walked over to the computer desk that Garcia had chosen and took a seat beside her. "Have you established communication with everyone?"

She nodded. "Yes sir. The SWAT units are all setup, JJ and the undercover units are waiting a little while before they go to the Capitol Building and all other units are en route to the university campuses."

"Good." He brought the two-way radio in his hand closer to his mouth. "Six o'clock, what's your status? Over."

"Six o'clock in position. Everything is clear so far. Over."

Lincoln sighed contentedly and placed the two-way radio on the computer desk. "Everything is going according to plan so far, so let's just keep an eye on the surveillance and we'll periodically check in with each unit."

Garcia turned to him and gave him a curious look. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah sure."

"Aren't there like 50 guys upstairs who are doing the same exact thing as me and you?" He nodded. "So what are we doing down here…just me and you?"

"Because this whole operation was my idea, I can't be up there will all my supervisors breathing down my neck while I'm trying to make sure that all these agents are okay. And besides none of those guys up there can manoeuvre their way around a computer system like you so as far as we're concerned all we need is me, you, a computer, this surveillance footage, and a two-way. And as far as they're concerned I'm up there blending in with the crowd," he added chuckling.

She gave him a small smile. "They intimidate you?"

He nodded, "I'm only 30, most of those guys hate me because I'm a young, intelligent Democrat," he chuckled softly once again. "And they're all waiting to make me America's scapegoat if anything goes wrong."

"Don't worry," she said supportively, "everything will be fine." Not only did she utter these words for Lincoln but also for herself.

--

Gideon slowly approached the steps of the Capitol Building with a paper cup of coffee in his hand. The building was gorgeous from an architectural standpoint and was an obvious choice for the presidential address when coupled with its significance; it was the home of the U.S. Congress. And as Reid had told them yesterday at the briefing, its construction began in September of 1973 and although it is not the geographic center of the District of Columbia, it is the focus by which the quadrants of the district are divided.

He stopped as he took a sip and curiously looked around. He could see Rossi on the other side of the street also carefully observing his surroundings. He discreetly glanced up at the rooftops and nodded to himself approvingly. The fact that SWAT agents were up there was completely hidden. He started to move again and headed towards the area in front of the Capitol Building steps where eager reporters were already starting to gather. He noted that JJ was not yet there but she would be soon. On the top step of the historic building a podium had been setup for the address and a carpet had been rolled out but so far there wasn't any sign of the President, the Israeli Ambassador, or their security teams.

He set himself up at a 45 degree angle to the edge of the steps on the left side. There was a small barrier to separate the foot of the steps from the crowd so he figured that he was roughly six feet away from the building. But from his vantage point, he would have an unobstructed view of the President and the nearby rooftops, a full view of the crowd and if their plans held true, he would be able to see Rossi and JJ.

Meanwhile……

Morgan parked the unmarked SUV in the parking lot of Potomac College library. He exited the vehicle and so did the other four agents in his assigned unit. "Okay," Morgan started, accepting his role of leadership. "We'll spread out, try to be as discreet as possible if you're approached by a student, say you're doing a lecture or something, and vaguely explain the situation if approached by an administrator." They all nodded. "No panic," Morgan said firmly. They all nodded once again before he continued, "If you find anything suspicious then let me know."

The four agents immediately began to walk in different directions. Morgan remained by the SUV as he spoke into the microphone of his radio. "This is Morgan, beginning search at Potomac College."

"Copy that," he heard Lincoln respond.

As he sprinted towards the entrance of the library, the searches of the other university campuses were beginning as well.

--

Rossi calculatingly chose his spot on the perimeter and stood on the corner of a curb with a paper under his arm. To any civilian he would look like an observer eagerly waiting the address but choosing to keep his distance from the large crowd that was beginning to gather.

As his eyes wandered to the podium on the steps of the Capitol Building, his mind drifted to other presidential assassinations in American history. He and Reid had had a conversation about it not that long ago and it was still fresh in his mind. Abraham Lincoln was shot April 14th, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth in this very city and John F. Kennedy was assassinated November 22nd, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. While other presidents, such as Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Gerald Ford, all escaped assassination attempts.

He looked across the street and spotted a young, blonde member of their task force mingling with the press. She didn't look shaky or insecure, she seemed perfectly calm and confident and this further encouraged Rossi's belief that she had a future career as an FBI press liaison. He noticed her take a small notepad out of the inside pocket of her blazer. She was putting on the perfect cover.

"From New York huh?" The male reporter to JJ's right asked.

She nodded. "Yup, they sent me all the way down here," she answered sounding slightly annoyed. "You're from here?" She asked as she observed the man's press pass.

"Washington Post," he declared proudly.

"When is this supposed to start?" The female on JJ's left asked impatiently.

"Umm I believe 11 or there about," JJ replied with an uncertain tone in her voice. While actually, she was positive that the address would start promptly at 11 o'clock. She ran a hand through her long, golden hair, making sure that it hid her earpiece. Nobody had made contact with her since she was dropped off two blocks from here. She wasn't overly concerned by the lack of contact but it was a little unsettling. She glanced down at her wrist watch; it was 10:07 A.M.

--

Lincoln picked up his two-way radio as he heard an incoming message. "Copy that," he replied. He turned back towards Garcia, "That was Agent Jones, Howard is all clear." He picked up his small notepad and crossed Howard University off of his list. "Okay so we are yet to here from American, Corcoran College of Art, Gallaudet, Georgetown, Potomac, Regent, and George Washington. All the others are clear."

Garcia took this as a sign to shut down the surveillance feeds from the universities that had been deemed clear in order to focus a smaller amount of screens on the large overhead image. She glanced up and smiled when Morgan came into view on their Potomac College camera. "There's Morgan," she said excitedly.

"He looks just about finished," Lincoln observed.

As if on cue, Morgan's voice came over the two-way. "This is Morgan, Potomac is clear."

Lincoln sighed relieved. "Copy that."

They watched Morgan nod and say something to his small unit before leaving the camera's view. Garcia typed a series of keys and another screen disappeared. She turned to Lincoln, "So that's 12 that are safe, does this mean that there possibly aren't any bombs?"

"I dunno," Lincoln replied quietly. He was afraid to tell her that it could mean that they got the target wrong. "It could," he added unconvincing.

Garcia's attention returned to the surveillance screens. "Oh and there's Reid," she said happily. They both watched the young man scurry across the screen with a hand on the butt of his gun. "What is he doing?" She asked herself confused.

Lincoln stared at the screen worriedly. "Is something wrong?" He asked himself quietly. He frantically reached for his radio. "Reid what's going on?"

Seconds later, the out of breath, young doctor responded. "In pursuit of a young, armed, Middle Eastern male."

"What's he carrying?" Lincoln asked quickly.

"A knife."

Reid was running as fast as he could down a long flight of steps on the campus of American University. The young man that he was chasing was not slowing down as he glanced over his shoulder back at Reid. The chase continued over the crisp, green grass. The suspect made a sharp turn behind the Engineering Building and Reid followed. Finally, the FBI agent was granted a bit of luck. The male tripped over his own feet as he looked behind him and fell face first into the ground.

Reid reached his sprawled out form and drew and cocked his gun. "Don't move," he said breathlessly.

The young man, probably his own age, turned over onto his back and looked up at him in fear. "Hey man," he started in a recognizable American accent. "What's up?"

"I went to speak with you and noticed that you had a knife on your person and then you took off across the grounds," Reid explained calmly.

"Hey I thought that if an FBI agent wanted to talk to me then it wasn't good," he replied sitting up. "I'm a student here." He slowly reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed it to Reid who quickly verified his student ID and passed his wallet back to him. "Misunderstanding man," he said with a small smile.

Reid looked at him suspiciously before the profiling portion of his brain told him that he was telling the truth and he placed his gun back in its holster. "Can you hand over the knife please?"

"Yeah, sure, sorry, I forgot to take it off this morning." The young man unclipped the knife and its case from his belt and handed it to Reid. "Is that it? Can I go now? I'm already late for class," he added laughing lightly.

Reid gave him a small nod and then helped him up off of the ground. He watched him walk into the Engineering Building before he spoke into his microphone. "False alarm. American University is clear."

As Reid walked back towards the parking lot, Elle was doing the same thing in another part of the city.

She sighed as she boarded her unit's SUV and turned the keys in the ignition. It was 10:30 A.M. exactly according to the vehicle's built-in clock and she had just informed Lincoln that George Washington University was clear. She was about to turn the keys in the ignition when her cell phone buzzed, she was receiving a text message. She flipped open her phone and read the message silently to herself.

_Come to Gallaudet University residence dining hall. Already called the boys. Emily._

Elle stared at her phone curiously before deciding not to ask herself anymore questions and she started the SUV.

"We going back to the Pentagon?" One of the agents sitting in the backseat asked.

"Nope," she answered as she pulled out into the main traffic. "We're going to Gallaudet University."

--

Hotch looked down at the crowd through the scope of the M-4 that he was using as a member of the SWAT team. The street was practically blocked with people but he still managed to keep an eye of Gideon, Rossi, and JJ.

"All units are prepared, in place, and are ready to fire on my signal," Agent English declared from his spot next to Hotch. "Do you see all of our agents?" Hotch nodded. "I hear that you're a good shot," he said laughing lightly.

Hotch laughed along with him. "I'd like to think so. Who's your best sniper?"

"That would be Peter Street, he's five o'clock."

"So he should have a clear shot if need be?" Hotch asked hopefully.

English nodded. "If need be," he repeated.

The two men tensed up as they listened to the crowd applaud enthusiastically as the President appeared. Hotch looked down at his watch, it was 11:03 A.M, as he listened to English speak into his two-way to his agents. "Hold your positions."

"Copy that sir," was the response that he received 11 times.

Hotch clutched his firearm and watched the President begin to speak through his scope. "And the show begins," he said solemnly.

Meanwhile……

Elle walked casually into the large dining hall of the Gallaudet University student residence. It was empty except for Emily, Morgan, Reid, and the agents that made up their small units. She walked up to them with her unit in tow.

"What's up?" She asked curiously.

"We got a bomb," Emily replied bluntly.

**A/N: Dun dun duh!! lol Review please!!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. Thanks to all those who've reviewed and to my beta, love you! Hope you enjoy this chapter! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 14 – Time**

"What?" Elle asked in shock.

"We have a bomb on this campus," Emily explained surprisingly calmly.

Elle looked past her female peer and at the two males. "So the campuses that you guys were on are clear?"

Morgan nodded. "Yup, I thought that we were all good until I got the call from Em."

"Have you radioed Lincoln yet?"

Reid shook his head. "Ummm…no…." he answered awkwardly.

Emily and Morgan exchanged looks before Morgan spoke. "I think that we should handle this ourselves. We have enough agents here for a small SWAT team and M-4s in the SUVs."

"So what's going on exactly? Like, where's the bomb? Are there any suspects?" Elle asked confused.

"There are two, young, Middle Eastern males in the basement of the Chemistry Building, one of them with a bomb on his belt and the trigger in his hand. So are we doing this?" Emily asked nervously as she put her hand out in the middle of the circle formed by the four new friends.

Morgan nodded as he placed his hand on top of Emily's. "I'm in."

"Me too." Elle seconded Morgan's support by placing her hand on top of his. Reid quickly followed his romantic interest and joined the pile of hands.

Morgan nodded once again as he took a deep breath. "Okay, let's prep them," he said referring to the agents behind him.

Meanwhile…..

Lincoln was repeatedly drumming his fingers on the computer desk and it was beginning to irritate the computer whiz. "Something wrong sir?" Garcia asked trying to not sound annoyed.

"Gallaudet is the only one on the list to not to be declared clear, we haven't heard from them in almost 20 minutes, and no one is to be found on the campus surveillance we have setup."

Garcia decided to act on the young man's nervousness and picked up his two-way radio. "Hey Em, its Garcia."

"Oh hey Garcia," came the reply.

"Lincoln wants to know what's taking you guys so long." She told her upfront.

"We just have a couple of things left to take care of."

"Okay see ya soon. Over." She laughed loudly as she placed the two-way back on the desk. "I've always wanted to say that." Lincoln looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Everything's fine," she assured him.

"I hope you're right," he replied quietly.

--

Gideon glanced down at his watch and became worried, it was already 11:09 and nothing out of the ordinary had happened yet. He portrayed the image of a man who was paying attention to the address while all of his senses were focused on his surroundings, picking up on the slightest change in the air, noticing the shuffling of people in the crowd, and continuing to look for anyone out of place.

He made eye contact with Rossi across the street and gave him a discreet head shake. From his perspective, everything was fine but his greatest fear was that the chaos would come from the crowd.

And in the thick of the crowd was Jennifer Jareau. She made notes as if she were a real reporter but kept her guard up with quick glances behind her back. She briefly turned to her left and someone caught her attention. He was a gangly, Middle Eastern male in a crisp business suit. He looked like a professional from the neck down but his face told a different story. He was nervous, on edge, and incredibly young looking.

She turned back to the reporters that she had been talking to earlier and made a gesture to suggest that she was going to move more towards the middle of the crowd. She intentionally bumped into the Middle Eastern gentleman. "Oh I'm sorry," she apologized flustered.

He gave her a warm smile. "Itttt…its…fine," he replied awkwardly in a thin accent.

She returned his smile before she turned and walked away, she had accomplished her goal. When she had collided with him, his suit jacket had been pushed back just enough to confirm her suspicions. A gun was tucked into the side of his pants towards the back. She remained calm as she ducked her head down and spoke quietly into the small mic on her sleeve, "Hotch."

"Yeah JJ," he answered urgently.

"Can you see me?"

"Yeah."

"Did you see the tall, Middle Eastern man that I just smacked into?" She asked cautiously, remembering to keep her voice down.

"Yeah."

"He's packing."

"What?" Hotch asked loudly as he had been completely caught off guard.

"He's armed," she repeated.

"Okay JJ, stay calm and stay put until I say so, okay?" He spoke protectively.

She nodded to herself. "Okay."

As soon as he finished his conversation with JJ, Hotch turned to Agent English. "The Middle Eastern male almost in the middle of the crowd, he's armed."

"He has a great view of the podium," English observed through his scope.

"Emily was right, the shooter's coming from the crowd," Hotch said quietly to himself.

English grasped his radio and began to speak, "Street do you read me?"

"I read you sir."

"The tall, young, Middle Eastern in the business suit in the middle of the crowd is armed and dangerous. Be prepared to take the head shot on my go."

"Copy that," Street replied.

After English's orders, Hotch contacted the member of the task force in the most danger. "JJ, when we have the order to take the head shot, I'll tell you to get down, okay?"

"Okay," she replied shakily.

Hotch looked through the scope of his own gun and silently noted how difficult a clean head shot would be. As if on cue, Street's voice came over English's two-way radio. "Sir, negative on the clear head shot."

"What?" English replied slightly surprised.

"No clear head shot sir. Over."

"Over," English responded. "God damn!" He cursed loudly to himself. He turned to Hotch and spoke, "Street doesn't have a clear head shot."

Meanwhile……

"Okay so what's the plan exactly?" Reid asked uneasily as he entered the Chemistry Building alongside Morgan.

"Be prepared to shoot," Morgan replied simply.

"What no talking them down?" He asked worriedly.

Morgan shook his head. "In my experience, they don't give you that option. So be prepared to shoot or run."

Reid swallowed nervously. "Okay."

Four experienced FBI agents armed with M-4s and covered in protective SWAT gear led the way down the stairs into the basement. They were followed closely by Reid and Morgan, behind them was Elle and Emily, and four other agents were bringing up the rear. They practically tiptoed down over the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. The group halted for the briefest moment as they heard distinct voices echoing throughout the solid concrete walls of the basement.

Morgan and Emily moved up and situated themselves between the leading agents while Reid fell back so that he was walking alongside Elle. They reached the end of the hallway where the only option was a left turn. Reid noted that the voices were very clear and loud now and although they were talking in Arabic, the two suspects sounded like they were arguing.

Emily mouthed, "One…two…three," to the two agents ahead of her and on three they rounded the corner and aimed their guns at the young terrorists. "FBI!" Emily yelled.

The two young men, who had been sitting on the cold, wet floor, jumped to their feet. They looked stunned; this was the last thing that they had expected. Neither of them spoke, instead they exchanged panicked looks.

"FBI! Hands up!" Morgan exclaimed, his eyes never leaving the taller man's torso where he wore a bomb as a belt.

After a moment or two, which felt like forever to those present, one of the young men replied in Arabic. Emily, having fully understood him, looked at him sincerely and responded quietly in his native language.

"What's she saying?" Elle asked Reid almost inaudibly.

The genius shook his head. "I don't know."

Emily spoke once again in Arabic and Morgan anxiously watched the young men's reaction. They got a fearful look in their eyes and violently shook their heads. He also saw the taller one's hand tighten around the remote trigger. The leader of the pair spoke in a menacing voice and Emily instantly turned on her heel and screamed, "Run!"

They did as told and sprinted around the corner and down the long hallway. They were at the top of the stairs when, Emily, the last one to retreat, spoke in a breathless voice. "Wait!"

Morgan turned around and looked at her like she was mentally unstable. "What do you mean wait?"

She took a moment to regain her breath before she responded with another question. "How far do you think we just ran?"

The other agents stared at her blankly while Reid simply answered the question, "That hallway is approximately 60 metres."

Emily nodded. "Yeah, enough time for a bomb to go off." She turned around and started to walk back down the stairs. "I'm going back."

"Em I'm not letting you, what if they're just waiting?" Morgan asked cautiously.

"No," she shook her head, "something's up."

She started to walk back down towards the corner when she felt a hand grasp her arm. When she turned around she saw that it was Morgan. "Fine but I'm going with you," he declared.

Emily gave him a warm smile before she looked up at Elle. "You guys wait outside."

The fellow brunette nodded before her, Reid, and the others resumed walking the route to the side entrance of the building.

Emily walked slowly back down the hallway with her gun held out in front of her and Morgan closely behind. When they stepped out in front of the corner, they saw that the young men were in the same exact position as they had left them. The only exception was that the remote trigger was crushed and lying between their feet. She glanced at Morgan and sighed, "It didn't go off."

"No, it didn't," the shorter man spoke quietly.

Morgan looked at him in shock for a second before he stared him down in an intimidating fashion. "Are there any other bombs?" The young men shook their heads. "Are there any other bombs?" Morgan repeated loudly.

"No!" The tall man exclaimed. "There are no other bombs!" It was then that Morgan realized that although they spoke Arabic, their accents were very thin. They had definitely spent the majority of their young lives, if not all of it, in the United States.

"What about the sawdust? The homemade dynamite?" Morgan inquired.

"It was just a plan to throw you guys off," the shorter one replied meekly.

Emily caught Morgan's attention and nodded. "They're too scared not to be telling the truth."

Morgan nodded in agreement before he placed his gun back in its holster and grabbed his handcuffs. "Got me?"

"I got ya," Emily answered as her gun focused on the shorter young man while Morgan searched the taller one before cuffing him. She tossed Morgan her cuffs and he then proceeded to perform the same routine on the second suspect.

Once the two, young, failed terrorists were apprehended, they slowly made their way outside where Elle and Reid stood waiting nervously.

--

"What do you mean Street doesn't have a head shot?" Hotch asked urgently.

"He doesn't have a head shot," English replied inarticulately.

Hotch took a deep breath before he flicked on his two-way radio and spoke into it, "Gideon?"

His Unit Chief responded quickly, "Yeah, Hotch."

"We have a suspect in the crowd but no clear headshot," Hotch explained.

"Description."

"Tall, Middle Eastern male, business suit, middle of the crowd."

Gideon stood up on his toes and surveyed the crowd. He could not see their suspect. "Nothing."

"Okay Gideon. Over," Hotch ended the conversation disappointedly. He then relayed the same information to Rossi on the other side of the crowd but he could not see the suspect either.

He took another deep breath before he picked up the two-way once again. "JJ?"

"Yeah Hotch," she answered quietly.

"We don't have a clear shot at the suspect so we need another plan and I'm going to walk you through it."

"Okay," she replied trustingly.

"You're going to sneak up behind him, slowly draw your gun, and then take his. Do you think that you can do that?"

She nodded to herself. "Yeah I think so," she said shakily.

"Okay." Hotch said in a calming tone that put her at ease…well a little bit anyway.

JJ tentatively placed a hand on the butt of her gun that was tucked into the back of her dress pants as she stealthily approached the suspect from behind. She smoothly drew her gun and placed it firmly against his temple as she reached up under his suit jacket and took his firearm. "Don't move," she whispered.

Before he had a chance to overtake the petite blonde, two tall, strong looking men were at her side with drawn firearms. He slowly brought his hands to his head and gave them a look of surrender.

JJ let out a sigh of relief as Gideon and Rossi took the man off of her hands. Only then did she notice that very few people had noticed the confrontation. Except for a couple of curious people in close proximity, everyone else in the crowd was still paying close attention to the President's speech. They had accomplished their goal of avoiding mass panic.

--

When the task force agents finally met up at the Pentagon, they were greeted by a relieved Lincoln and Garcia, who gave each of her new friends a tight hug. The three suspects that they had brought in were led upstairs into separate, empty, conference rooms to be questioned on the whereabouts of their fellow cell members. Gideon, Hotch, and Rossi handled the interrogations with Lincoln while the younger agents hung out with Garcia.

"I can't believe you guys had a bomb!" The computer tech exclaimed in disbelief.

Emily laughed lightly, "Yeah, a faulty bomb."

Morgan laughed along with her. "Yeah, a faulty bomb that no one besides those who were there will ever know about."

"It's crazy how very few people know how close we came to an assassinated President and a destroyed university campus with thousands of causalities," Elle said quietly.

"I know," Reid agreed. "Its almost going to feel like it never even happened.

Morgan nodded in agreement also before he turned to JJ and smiled. "I heard that you saved the day."

Blush slowly crept across the blonde's face as she awkwardly tucked her hair behind her ear. "Well I wouldn't say that." When she talked to her boyfriend, he rambled on and on about how scooping another reporter was the greatest feeling in the world, when really he had no idea.

"Modest," Garcia teased.

The six young adults laughed together before they turned to cheerful conversation. Reid was right, it would feel like it never even happened, and that mood was already setting in. All of their hard work and weeks of planning, nervousness, grief, and anxiety were forgotten about. Garcia claimed that they were modern day superheroes who had saved the country, a title that they had laughed off. But right now, they were just friends having a carefree chat.

**A/N: Hope you like the way I handled the dangerous situations. Please review! I plan on doing a few more chapters to clue everything up so I hope you'll stick with me. :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thanks to those who continue to review and to my lovely beta. :) Hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 15 – Ignoring the Inevitable**

Emily was getting comfortable in her hotel room since she would be staying until Sunday morning. She had just discarded all of her clothes and was about to take a long, hot bath when she heard a steady knock on her door. She pulled on a robe and tied it tightly around her thin waist before she opened the door. "Oh hey Hotch," she greeted him with surprise. "You're finished the interrogations?"

"Yeah," he answered uninterestedly as he stormed past her and into her room.

"What are you doing?" She asked taken aback as she closed her room door.

"You went back."

"What?" She asked confused.

"You went back to the bombers even though you had no way of knowing that the device had failed to explode. It was reckless," he stated coldly.

She scoffed, "Okay then."

He stared at her with extreme intensity. "It doesn't bother you that you put your life on the line?"

"No," she replied shaking her head. "I trusted my instincts."

"You should have radioed for backup," he told her condescendingly.

"You're not my boss!" She retorted annoyed. "In fact, we're on the same level in the FBI hierarchy."

"You jumped the gun!"

She turned her back to him and opened her room door. She held it open for him, "Good day Hotch," she said through clenched teeth. He did not move a muscle and she continued to glare at him. "Well…"

He sighed heavily. "Sorry, I shifted into superior gear. I am definitely not your boss and I apologize for criticizing your decisions. It's none of my business."

"Thank you," she said quietly as she closed the door again.

"I just got really concerned when I heard the risk you took and I wanted to make sure that you think things through next time," he said sincerely. "I was just worried about you."

"Well that's kind of none of your business either," she replied bitterly as she folded her arms across her chest.

His inner profiler immediately started to work. "What's wrong?" His eyes focused in on her visible left hand which was now free of the large, diamond engagement ring that she usually wore. "Where's your ring?" She immediately covered her hand and looked down at her feet. "Emily…"

"We're not together anymore," she answered shakily. "I got the call from my supervisor and I'm getting transferred to Chicago."

"So that's it then? You're not going to wait until you actually see him in person?" Hotch asked in an attempt to help her with her relationship.

"He broke up with me," she revealed quietly.

He walked towards her and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

"I've been single before," she murmured against his suit jacket, "and my friends said that he was only with me for my money."

"Well it's his loss." Emily looked up at him curiously but he nobly ignored the vulnerability in her eyes. "Have you had lunch?" She shook her head. "Well come on, we can all have lunch together."

"Okay," he replied as she pulled out of the hug. "I'll meet you in the lobby, I have to get dressed.

He nodded, "Okay, I'll round up everyone else."

--

The nine of them ate lunch in the hotel dining room as if they were still in the safe house, the only difference was that they didn't have to set the table, cook, or do the dishes. Rossi was telling Gideon that he was going to stay around Washington until Sunday, like everybody else, and look into getting a flight to New York. Hotch was sending Emily worried glances as he watched her pick at her food. While Elle played footsy with Reid under the table, the young genius blushed uncontrollably as the older woman stroked his calf with her bare foot that she had slipped out of her summer sandal. Morgan, Garcia, and JJ discussed their plans for tonight that involved hitting the Washington D.C. bar scene.

"We need a little fun after all this," Morgan stated rationally.

The two blondes nodded in agreement. "I agree," Garcia said before she turned to the two brunettes that were sitting across the table from her. "I know that Rossi is leaving, and that Gideon and Hotch have plans, what about you guys?"

"I don't really feel up to it," Emily answered truthfully.

Garcia nodded as she didn't want to push her new friend and she was aware that she was having problems with her fiancé. "What about you Elle?"

Elle shook her head. "No, actually I have plans." Reid's neck almost snapped as he quickly looked up at her.

"Oh okay cool," Garcia said smiling.

"Do you have family here?" JJ asked curiously.

She nodded, "Yeah my cousin lives in Congress Heights."

"What about you Reid?" Morgan asked smirking. "You coming?"

He nervously shook his head. "No, I have some things I gotta do…"

"I think he has a date," JJ said smiling.

Reid furiously shook his head. "No, I have a family thing too," he lied.

"Okay," Morgan accepted his words, "looks like it's just the three of us ladies."

They finished their lunch and started to return to their hotel rooms. Reid gentlemanly waited around for Elle and they were the last pair to begin walking up the stairs. "So you're going to visit your cousin?" He asked awkwardly.

She turned to him and smirked. "Reid I don't have a cousin in Congress Heights, I was hoping to come and visit you."

He smiled at her brightly. "Okay."

"Okay so you're checking out now right?" He nodded. "Well then I'll come by in an hour or so, is that okay?"

"Yeah, anytime is fine with me," he replied excitedly.

Meanwhile, Hotch and Emily were walking in front of everybody else and a fair distance ahead of Rossi and Gideon. "Are you okay?" Hotch asked cautiously.

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Do you want to stay with me this weekend?"

She looked at him in disbelief as they continued to walk. "Uhh…third wheel much," she laughed. "You have a wife."

"It won't be an imposition," he smiled.

"I dunno," she said unsurely.

"I insist," he added warmly.

--

Reid heard a knock on his apartment door and instead of answering it; he called out from his bedroom. "Come in! It's open!" He paused for a second and then smiled when he heard the clicking of heels on his hardwood floor. He smiled brightly when he saw Elle appear in the doorway. "Hey."

She sized him up with a curious look on her face. He was wearing a pair of beige cords and a plain, white t-shirt that were both covered in paint, he was also holding a paint brush. "What are you doing?" He smiled as he pointed towards the wall opposite of him that she could not see. Upon his gesture, she stepped into his bedroom and gazed at the back wall. "Oh my God…it's amazing!"

"It's…"

She cut him off, "Vegas, its Las Vegas," she said in awe. "Wow," she spoke more to herself than to him." He had started to paint a mural of the skyline of Las Vegas at night and it was almost half completed. "You're really good," she complimented.

He blushed. "Thanks."

She walked towards him and smirked seductively. "Can I paint something?" She asked as she ran a hand down the front of his t-shirt.

"Only if you stay here for dinner," he smirked back at her.

"Well you drive a hard bargain Dr. Reid," she replied as she pried the paint brush out of his hand. She stepped towards the wall but he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into him. She giggled before she turned serious. "What are we doing?"

He looked at her curiously. "Playing around?"

"No… what are _we_ doing?"

"Oh," he replied realizing what she was getting at. "Well in that context, we're being adults?"

She smiled, "Adults huh?" He brought his eyebrows together in confusion and she laughed. "Well you know what adults do?"

He smirked before he leaned down and kissed her intensely. "Yeah, I know what adults do."

She giggled as they kissed again. "Wait," she started once she pulled back, "have…you…been uhh… an adult before?" She asked clumsily.

He tried to disguise the blush creeping across his face but it was impossible. "Does the outcome of this evening depend on the answer to that question?"

"Nahh," she answered smirking. "The outcome is probably the same, how we get there is dependent on the answer to that question."

He leaned down and kissed her hungrily. "I think that you probably already know the answer based upon the blush on my face but I'll tell you anyway, I am a virgin. I'm pretty sure that I've had the opportunity, I've just never liked a girl…a woman," he corrected himself, "enough."

She pulled back when he tried to kiss her again. "Are you sure? I really wanna make sure that you're sure."

He nodded. "I'm sure…I'm really sure," he answered breathlessly.

"Okay then," she kissed him softly.

"So how are we getting there?" He asked eagerly.

She giggled, "We're gonna eat and we're gonna drink and we're gonna have a good time." She giggled again as she grasped his belt. "A really good time."

"Can we start now?"

She laughed at his enthusiasm. "No, I'm gonna teach you how to cook something first."

He frowned. "You know that I'm not good in the kitchen."

"I know, that's why I'm going to teach you. I brought groceries; they're on your kitchen table."

"Okay, let me clean up first." He took the paint brush from her and began to put away his art supplies. He put all of his paints in the top drawer of a desk in the corner and then moved over to his dresser. He pulled the dirty t-shirt over his head and she couldn't help but stare at his bare back. She chewed on her bottom lip as she fantasized; she could only imagine how sexy the rest of his body was. He changed into a clean t-shirt and then turned around to face her. "I just gotta clean my brush now," he explained smiling.

"Oh I'll do it," she offered politely.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded as she snatched the paint brush from him again. "Yeah and you can go out in the kitchen and guess what I'm gonna teach you how to cook." She smirked as she watched him blush. "So where's the bathroom?"

"Umm it's the door in the hallway, I have a small apartment," he laughed awkwardly to himself.

She smiled at him before she left his bedroom and walked into his spotless bathroom. She gasped as she looked down and saw what was in his sink. "Reid!" She called out. "Do you know that the most adorable black and white kitten is curled up in your bathroom sink?"

He laughed as he joined her in the bathroom. "That's Boveri," he explained smiling.

She looked at him in disbelief. "Like the scientist?" He nodded and she laughed. "He's so cute."

"He's only three months old; I got him when I moved here, as sort of a companion."

"So you only moved here a month ago?" She asked curiously. He nodded and she laughed. "So that explains why your bedroom and living room are relatively bare and your bathroom is spotless and you still have boxes lying around."

He laughed awkwardly as he turned red. "Umm I guess so…"

She smiled, "I'm kidding, I like the modesty of your bedroom, your bathroom is tidy and your living room is cozy, and I'm sure that those boxes hold all your dirty secrets." He laughed again. "No, let me try this whole profiling thing."

He smirked as he stepped up to her. "Okay."

"Okay so in those boxes are original edition comic books, foreign books that nobody's heard of, really old movies, video games, Playboys and porn," she smirked as she ran her fingertips across his chest. "How much did I get right?"

He smirked back at her as he leaned in so that their faces were only inches apart. "The comic books and video games are right, my foreign books and old movies are actually on my shelves, and I don't have Playboys or porn."

They leaned into each other and kissed. "Sure you don't," she said against his lips. "That's what every guy says."

He kissed her again. "I left them all in Las Vegas." He gave her a chance to laugh out loud before he kissed her. "Besides none of them are as attractive as you anyway."

"Aww thank you for comparing me to playmates and porn stars," she said teasingly.

He immediately flushed from head to toe. "That's not what I meant," he started to apologize inelegantly but she cut him off with a kiss.

"I know what you meant." She gave him a quick kiss. "Now come on, let's cook dinner."

Reid scooped the sleeping kitten into his arms and Elle washed his paint brush and then laid it to dry next to the sink. They then walked out of the bathroom, with Reid still carrying his beloved pet. He set Boveri down on the couch and then followed Elle into the kitchen.

"Okay you have to pay really close attention."

He laughed lightly, "That's my speciality."

She began to unload the bags of groceries that she had brought and he directed her to various locations around his kitchen as she asked for things. She made him help her, step by step, as they cooked homemade meatballs and rice. When it was finally ready to serve he sighed relieved and she laughed. "Come on, it wasn't that bad."

He gave her a small smile. "Okay, you're right, it wasn't that bad."

She smiled back at him as she laid two hot plates full of food on his kitchen table. He joined her at the table and they ate the delicious meal while having pleasant dinner conversation. Once he was finished, he leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Wow that was great, I'm full." She smiled back at him but did not reply as she was not finished eating yet. "I can't help but notice that you didn't empty those bags." She simply smirked at him. "What's in it?"

She finished and pushed the plate away from her. "When I went to university, I lived in residence in an all girl house and we invented a drinking game. So we would invite boys over on the weekends and play."

He turned bright red. "Did you go to a party school?" He asked awkwardly.

She chuckled, "Princeton. I went to Princeton."

His eyes widened. "Oh, I'm sorry…wow…Princeton…"

"So do you wanna play?" She asked hopefully and with a mischievous grin. "It was invented so that it works in pairs."

He gave her a small nod. "I think that it might be interesting."

"Yay," she smiled happily. She got up out of her chair and took the dirty dishes with her. She laid them down in the sink before she grabbed the remaining bag off of the kitchen counter. She laughed as she pulled a large bottle of tequila and a deck of cards out of the brown paper bag. "I'm gonna need paper and a pen."

"Okay." He hopped out of his chair and snatched the notepad and pen off of the small table beside his couch.

"Okay now I need your wallet." He looked at her curiously. "Its part of the game," she assured him. He tentatively pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and placed it on the table. He relaxed a little when she laid her small purse next to it. "Okay so to start the game we both need to answer five questions." She paused for a second and began to write. "When's your birthday?"

"October 12th," he answered. So far he was very confused by this game.

"Okay and mine is January 29th," as she spoke she continued to write. "Do you like summer or winter?"

"Summer."

She laughed lightly, "I like winter." She took a moment to finish jotting down her answer before she asked another question. "What's the last song you listened to?"

He ran a hand through his hair thoughtfully. "Umm…that would be the last time that I heard the radio so that was…" he laughed awkwardly, "I think it was 'Tearin' Up My Heart' by NSYNC."

She laughed hysterically. "Okay and mine was 'Crazy On You' by Heart. When and where was your first kiss?"

He involuntarily blushed. "I was 14, my front step."

She looked up at him and smiled. "I was 15 and it was in Greg Oldeman's car," she shuddered as she recalled the memory. "Anyway, last question, what was the very first thing that you noticed about me?"

"Your hair," he answered automatically.

"What about my hair?" She asked dreamily.

"Is that a required question?" He smirked.

She shook her head embarrassed. "No, I just wanna know."

"I remember thinking that it looked really soft and I just wanted to touch it," he answered honestly. She continued to stare at him, completely smitten until he spoke. "Don't you have to answer that question too?"

She snapped out of her fantasy and looked down at the notepad to hide her face which was almost as red as a tomato. "Right, the first thing that I noticed about you was your eyes," she told him quietly.

"What about my eyes?" He asked confidently.

She glanced up at him and tucked her hair behind her ear. "They're just gorgeous." She picked up his wallet and emptied out its contents. "Do you wanna know what you've gotten yourself into?"

He laughed, "I dunno, do I?"

"Well why don't you get down your shot glasses and I'll tally up your score."

"I only have eight shot glasses," he called out from the kitchen.

"That's okay," she replied as she calculated their scores in her head. "Four for each of us."

He brought the glasses back to the table, placing four in front of her and the other four in front of him as he sat down. "So what are the rules?"

She smirked at him. "First of all, your score is 116, which was your birthday plus the decade that 'Tearin' Up My Heart' was released, plus 14, the age of your first kiss, divided by your age, 21, means that you take six shots before we even start and because you answered summer you have to remove one article of clothing before we start."

His eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

She nodded. "Oh yeah, and I take five shots and I keep my clothes."

"But you've played before, so of course you said winter," he whined.

She smiled at him. "I do like winter, I promise that I wouldn't rig the game," she told him with a grin.

He pouted, "Fine." He took the tequila bottle, opened it, and filled his four glasses. He downed them like a pro and then two more.

"Wow, I'm impressed," she laughed.

He gave her a small smile. "Well I can hold my liquor."

She smirked as he poured alcohol into her four glasses. "Me too," she smirked. She drank her five shots before she reminded him of his other requirement. "Remove an item of clothing mister, and socks are one item."

"Well since my feet get cold easily…" He stopped talking and stood up next to the table. She gawked at him as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and tossed it on the couch. "So what are the rest of the rules?" He asked after he had retaken a seat in his chair.

She tore herself away from staring at his surprisingly toned and sculpted chest. "Righhhtt….so basically it's like a drinking game mixed with strip poker." She counted the money from his wallet and laughed, "So you have 36 dollars so you always keep five and the rest you can bet in the poker games."

"Why do I always keep five?" He asked curiously.

"Because," she started as she opened the tiny box and pulled out the deck of cards. "You can buy certain cards off me for five bucks."

He nodded as he grasped the concept. "Oh okay."

"So we play a hand of poker and then the winner draws a card from the deck. So now I'll tell you what each card means. If you draw a two, three, four, or five of any suit it means that you take the number of shots that's on the card." He nodded so she continued. "If you draw a six or seven of any suit you have to remove an item of clothing. Eight is the truth card, which means that you have to reveal something about yourself. A nine means that you have to take a body shot off of the other person."

He gulped, "A body shot?"

She smirked as she nodded. "Yeah, a body shot. So the 10 of hearts means that you have to kiss the other person on the cheek, Jack of hearts is an 'other body part' kiss, Queen of hearts is a peck on the lips, and the King of hearts is a French kiss."

"Umm what's an 'other body part' kiss?" He asked slightly intrigued as he mimicked her air quotes.

"Oh it just means that the other person gets to pick somewhere that you kiss them."

"Oh," he answered as blush crept across his face.

"And the ace of hearts means that you have to reveal the story behind your first kiss. Okay so there are three cards that if you draw them you keep them until you want to use them and I can buy them off you. The ace of clubs is the pee card," she let out a tiny giggle that made him smile. "So if you have it you can use it to use the washroom at any time. If you have the Queen of spades it means that if you draw a six or seven, you can use it so that you don't have to take off your clothes, and you can use the Queen of diamonds so that if you draw a two, three, four, or five you don't have to do any shots. And that's it, so it leaves twelve cards which are safe draws. Get it?" She asked with a smile.

He gave her a small nod. "Yeah, I think so."

"Okay let's play," she said excitedly. She dealt the cards and handed out five each, for five card stud poker. She was very pleased when she won the first hand, but what she didn't know was that he was a very talented and experienced poker player and he was just biding his time. "Okay so I have to draw." She slowly slid the top card off of the deck and smirked to herself.

"What is it?" He asked eagerly. She continued to smirk as she flipped the card up. "A nine," he swallowed nervously.

She smirked as she reached into the brown paper bag beside her chair and pulled out a container of salt and a couple limes. She got up out of her seat and walked into his kitchen to retrieve a knife. She cut the lime as she told him, "You wanna lie on your coffee table."

"Sure," he replied in a high-pitched voice as he did as he was told.

She walked towards his coffee table, carrying the lime and salt with her. She placed the lime in his mouth before she poured herself a shot and placed it on the coffee table next to his head. He looked up at her with an adorable expression as she sprinkled salt up his torso. She leaned down and licked the salt slowly off his body, and she smiled to herself as he quivered beneath her. She reached his neck and pulled away to down her shot. She returned to him to take the lime out of his mouth. She finished sucking out the bitter juice and then stood up straight. She smirked down at him and he looked up at her with widened eyes as he removed the peel from his mouth. She leaned down again to gently kiss him but he hungrily held in her place as he tasted her lips.

She pulled back when he brushed his tongue along her bottom lip and giggled. "You have to wait for the King of hearts if you wanna do that." He blushed as they returned to the kitchen table.

After twenty minutes of play, they were both very buzzed. To both of their disappointment, neither of them had removed another clothing item. They had each drawn an eight once and Elle showed him that she can do gymnastics while he showed her some of his magic tricks. Reid possessed the pee card while she owned the Queen of spades.

Reid had won the last hand and it was now time to draw a card. "The 10 of hearts."

"The cheek," she smirked as she placed a finger on her cheek. He frowned before he leaned forward across the table and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Elle giggled loudly as she saw the frustration in his face. "Oh Reid your cat is coming." She smiled as she saw the fluffy, black and white kitten trot towards the table. "Hi Boveri," she said happily.

He looked down at his pet and shook his head. "No Boveri, you can't come up." He turned back towards Elle. "He wants to come up on my shoulder but he has a tendency to dig in."

A naughty smirk formed on her face. "You don't like scratches on your back?"

His big, brown eyes widened once again and he turned blood red. He tried to cover up his reaction by turning his attention back towards his cat. He picked up the small animal and he curled up in his owner's lap. "Umm another hand…" He said awkwardly as he dealt the cards.

He deliberately lost because he wanted her to draw a card and to his pleasure she drew a seven. He tried to hide his excitement as she pulled her red t-shirt over her head. He shivered as his eyes moved over her torso. She wore a black, push-up bra and her skin looked so soft. He couldn't help himself from staring. He gasped and rose up off of his chair as he felt claws dig into his upper thigh. "Is he digging in?" She asked concerned.

He simply nodded as he tried to relax his cat but he still continued to try to sharpen his claws in his owner's lap. Elle reached across the table as Reid's face contorted in pain. She slowly picked up the fluffy kitten into her arms. He let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you." He swallowed again as she was still leaning over the table and showing a fair amount of cleavage. As he stared at her, she was also staring at him. She was looking down into his lap to see that he was obviously very aroused.

Maybe it was the alcohol, but the fact that they were staring at each other was oblivious to both of them. She quickly sat back down in her chair and giggled as Boveri happily purred. "Aww, he's so cute."

"I think that he likes you," Reid replied smiling.

They played three more hands which resulted in Elle having to take five more shots and Reid having to take four more, which added to their level of intoxication. He had just returned from the bathroom, after deciding to make use of the pee card.

When he returned, she giggled as she sized up the bottle of liquor. "We're soon gonna be out of booze."

He shook his head. "Nah, I have some." He ran his hand through his hair as he picked up the cards that she had laid in front of him. "I fold," he declared.

She giggled loudly, "But you didn't ask for any cards."

He shrugged. "I'm too drunk to think." He drew a card from atop of the deck and chuckled. It was a six. He jumped to his feet. "I have to take off my pants."

She giggled and leaned forward enthusiastically, with his cat still in her lap. "Yes, you should take off your pants." She involuntarily licked her lips as he fumbled with the zipper. She giggled again as he pushed his cords down to his ankles and her eyes darted to the bulge in his charcoal boxers. "You're sexy," she stated smiling.

He smiled back at her as he sat back down. "You're really sexy."

She got very giggly when she drank and this time was no exception. "Thank you."

This time he handed out the cards and she won the hand simply because he wanted her to. "I have all your money," she giggled.

"Oh well," he smiled.

She drew a card and showed it to him, the King of hearts. She carefully placed Boveri on the floor and then leaned across the table. Their lips met and they kissed intensely as he wound a hand in her long, dark hair to hold her in place. She brushed her tongue along his bottom lip, tasting the tequila, and he eagerly opened his mouth to her. She explored the curves of his mouth curiously as he ran his free hand down her bare arm causing her to shiver. They pulled back when air became a necessity. He stared into her dark brown eyes before he kissed her again, this time running his hand across the back of her bra. She responded by placing her arms around his neck. Neither one of them was interested in the game anymore.

He pulled back slowly, leaving her wanting more. He got up from the table and she followed him. He placed his hands on the bottom of her thighs and picked her up into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders and kissed him passionately. "I'll be gentle," she whispered.

They kissed fervently as he carried her into his bedroom.

--

Morgan, Garcia, and JJ all stumbled into Garcia's hotel room very late in the night, or very early in the morning. The two women both collapsed on the bed while Morgan took a seat in the chair beside the window.

"Man I haven't gone bar hopping in forever," JJ stated laughing.

Morgan laughed along with her. "You say that like you're old."

Garcia giggled uncontrollably from the influence of alcohol. "Tonight was fun."

"It was," Morgan agreed. "Having two gorgeous women on my arms." JJ grabbed the pillow out from in under her head and tossed it at him and he simply laughed. "You guys are fun."

"Thank you," JJ replied politely.

"Hey guys…" Garcia started.

"Yes sweetness," Morgan inquired.

"It may just be the alcohol talking but I think that Elle and Reid hooked up tonight and that tomorrow morning when we go over to Hotch's for breakfast, there is going to be some seriousness awkwardness cuz he has a thing for Emily."

**A/N: Sorry for the little teaser at the end. LOL. And just to be clear, I did make up the drinking game off the top of my head. LOL. And I have decided that I'm doing 2 more chapters to conclude everything. Review!!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thanks to those who have reviewed and continue to review. Thanks to my beta :). This chapter is kinda short but I hope that you like it and its more of a set-up for the final chapter. And I deduced that when this fic is set, would have been the time that LOTR would have been in theatres. LOL.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 16 – Maybe Everything Happens For a Reason**

Hotch stirred when he could distinctly pick out the wonderful aroma of freshly brewed coffee. He quietly slipped out of bed as his wife was still peacefully sleeping and made his way downstairs. He entered the kitchen to find Emily pouring herself a mug of hot coffee. "I'll have some," he said pleasantly.

Emily jumped upon hearing someone's voice. She spun around and gave him a small smile. "Oh…good morning, I'm sorry that I helped myself, it's not very polite…"

"No, I'm glad that you did. I didn't wanna have you upstairs afraid to come down unless I was up," he said, laughing lightly.

"Are you sure that I'm not imposing?" She asked uneasily.

"No, you're not," he reassured her. "And if you still think so then it doesn't matter anyway because Morgan, Garcia, and JJ are coming over for breakfast this morning, so they will be imposing as well," he joked.

She laughed, "Okay."

Hotch and Emily began to cook breakfast together and chatted as if they had been close friends for years. But she immediately tensed up when Haley walked into the kitchen. "Morning sleepy head," he said smiling happily.

"Morning…you guys are making breakfast?" She asked as she ran a hand through her long, blonde hair.

He nodded. "Yeah, company should be here any minute." As if on cue, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," he announced pleasantly. He walked out of the kitchen, through the living room, and towards the front door. He pulled the door wide open and smiled at his guests. "Good morning."

Garcia smiled back brightly despite a minor case of sleep deprivation. "Good morning."

Hotch pulled the door wide open and invited Garcia, Morgan, and JJ inside. Emily smiled when she saw them, "Hey guys, did you have a good time last night?"

Morgan chuckled, "Yeah, we had a blast."

"Breakfast is basically ready, let's sit down," Hotch said as he directed them to the table in the dining room. Morgan, Garcia, JJ, and Emily all took a seat at the table while Hotch gestured his wife out of the kitchen. "This is my wife Haley," he introduced her proudly.

She smiled pleasantly, "Good morning. Aaron can I talk to you for a second?" She requested quietly.

"Sure," he answered before he excused himself and followed his wife back into the kitchen.

Emily exchanged looks with Garcia before she whispered, "This isn't awkward at all compared to last night."

"Why did he ask you to stay with him anyway?" JJ inquired.

Emily shrugged, "I don't know, I guess he wanted to make sure that I wasn't depressed and alone. It's sweet really."

Meanwhile……

"Aaron what's my only rule?" Haley asked irritated. He paused for a minute and that was obviously too long for her because she answered her own question. "It's that you don't bring your work home with you."

"They don't work at the BAU," he answered confused.

"No, but aren't those the people that you've spent the last month with?"

He nodded slowly. "Well yes…"

"Then that would be bringing your work home with you."

He was bewildered more than anything else. He and Haley never fought and he had never seen her like this before, it was like she was a completely different person. "Well let's just go and have a nice breakfast and we'll talk about this later," he said calmly.

--

Reid awoke with a smile on his face and a beautiful woman in his arms. He gently caressed Elle's bare shoulder with his fingertips as he watched her sleep. "Good morning," he greeted her happily once he saw her eyes flutter open.

"Good morning," she replied sleepily. She placed her hands on his arms, which were wrapped tightly around her waist, and relished in the feeling of security. She closed her eyes again and turned towards him, snuggling her head into the crook of his neck.

He laughed lightly, "What's up?"

She smiled as she kissed his neck. "Nothing, I'm just unbelievably comfortable. Last night was great and earlier this morning." She smirked as she kissed along his jaw line. "I'm so comfortable," she repeated quietly as she cuddled into him.

"Yeah it was awesome," he smirked. "You have a gorgeous body, from head to toe."

She giggled as blush crept across her face. "You're not too bad yourself. I just wanna lie here all day."

"Maybe do some other stuff," he muttered as he kissed her on the top of the head. He laughed again as he saw his cat slowly walk up the bed and try to nestle himself between him and Elle.

"I think he's jealous," she giggled.

"Yeah, jealous of me," he laughed as he watched the kitten brush into Elle's face. He curled up on the pillow beside her head and closed his eyes. "Yeah, he could care less about me now that you're here."

She began to scratch behind his ears and he purred loudly. "You're so cute," she said in a baby voice.

"Thank you," Reid smirked.

She laughed loudly. "Shut up! Boveri's way cuter than you!"

He smiled as he tightened his grasp on her and pulled her towards him until there was not an inch of space between them. "Hey do you wanna see the BAU? I can give you the tour."

"Yeah," she replied excitedly. "That'd be cool."

"Awesome," he kissed her neck before he spoke again. "Do you want breakfast?"

"I just wanna lie here for a while," she giggled. "And besides I'd have to cook it," she teased.

He shook his head. "Nah uh, I can make really good breakfast sandwiches."

"Oh okay," she laughed, "well that's good. Listen, can I use your shower?"

"Well I dunno, I feel very protective over my shower so I can't consciously let you in there unless you have supervision," he joked.

She laughed loudly and rolled over so that they lay face to face. "That's quite the rule."

"I know but I think that it's necessary."

She laughed again before she kissed him softly on the lips. "Dirty minded," she said as she playfully tapped his nose.

He smiled, "Okay well maybe I can bend the rule for you."

She shook her head. "No, I don't want any special treatment," she replied with a smirk. She slipped out of his arms and had no problem parading out of his bedroom, naked. He jumped out of his bed and eagerly followed her into his bathroom.

--

"Okay so this is the floor that I work on," Reid announced as him and Elle stepped out of the elevator and into the BAU bullpen.

"We didn't get this tour when I went to the Academy," she said randomly as she continued to walk with Reid with their hands intertwined. She was wearing the same clothes that she had worn last night but she didn't care. She was perfectly content right now with her hand in his exploring his workplace.

"And this is my desk."

She smiled as she picked up the placard with his name on it. "Dr. Spencer Reid," she smirked as she placed it back on his desk. "It's so neat."

He laughed lightly, "I like to keep everything in order." He took her hand again and pulled her away from his desk and up over a small flight of stairs. "And this is where we brief new cases," he said as they walked into the conference room that consisted of a round table, a whiteboard, and a television screen.

"Hey what are you doing here on a Saturday?"

Reid immediately spun around upon hearing the voice of his mentor. He saw Gideon standing in the doorway with Rossi behind him. "Oh hello," Reid responded awkwardly, "I was just showing Elle around." He could feel his body temperature rising and he knew that his face was probably blood red.

"Okay," Gideon replied nodding. His eyes fell upon the two young people holding hands. "So what do you two have planned for this evening?"

"We're going to the movies," Reid answered in a high-pitched voice.

Rossi chuckled from his cover behind Gideon. The young genius was obviously nervous about having his superior catch him with a woman that he was infatuated with. "Which one?"

"What?" Reid squeaked.

"Which movie?" Rossi asked suppressing laughter.

"We're going to see the _Lord of the Rings_," Elle answered for them.

"Well have fun," Gideon smiled.

Elle nodded as she felt Reid's hand shaking in hers. "Thanks."

Gideon gave Reid a small smile before he turned around and he and Rossi walked towards his office. Once his idols were out of earshot, Reid turned to Elle and apologized. "Sorry about that."

She smiled, "Its okay, just tone down the nerves a little. Its not like you had to pay me to be here," she joked.

He smiled at her warmly. "Let's get ready to go to that movie now."

"Okay, but can we stop by the hotel and get my stuff first?"

He nodded and smiled as he began to lead her out of the room. "Of course."

--

"Hey what are you doing?" Garcia asked curiously as she pushed open JJ's unlocked, hotel room door. She closed the door behind her before she walked into the room and took a seat on the bed. Her fellow blonde was sitting at the desk and reading a document with great intensity.

"Filling out an application," she answered distractedly.

"Oh yeah? What kind of application?" Garcia asked persistently.

JJ raised her head and looked at her new friend. "The application for the FBI Academy."

Garcia's eyes widened in shock, "Seriously?"

JJ nodded as she leaned her head on her hand and propped her elbow up on the desk. "Yeah, I decided a couple of months ago that I wanted to do something fulfilling with my life and then this whole national security thing came along. Am I making a bigger deal out of it then it is or do you think that it's a sign?" She asked self-consciously.

"I always say that everything happens for a reason. Maybe we were all supposed to meet for some reason that we haven't figured out yet. Maybe because of what's happened in the past month, you are supposed to apply to the Academy, and Emily and Hotch are supposed to form this weird connection or whatever it is they have, and maybe Elle and Reid are supposed to have a romance that's going to leave both of them hurting tomorrow." She shrugged, "And maybe I was supposed to do this so that I could finally be offered a real job…"

"What?" JJ asked excited.

She smiled, "I got a phone call from Lincoln after dinner and he told me that he got me a job as a Technical Analyst for the Behavioural Analysis Unit of the FBI."

"Are you serious?" JJ squealed, "That's great!"

Garcia nodded with a bright smile on her face. "So I'll be working with Gideon, Hotch, and Reid."

"Wow Garcia, that's great!"

"Thanks JJ," she said quietly as the blonde pulled her into a tight hug.

"See? Everything happens for a reason," Garcia declared smiling.

**A/N: Just one chapter left. Please review! :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: This is the last chapter, its been fun writing this. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! :) And thanks to my beta! :) Hope you like the ending! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 17 – Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow**

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was now crawling with potential and current FBI agents. Rossi, Morgan, Emily, Elle, and JJ all possessed airline tickets and because of their government connection, Gideon, Hotch, Reid, and Garcia were allowed to accompany them past security and to the gates. It was currently 9:30 on a Sunday morning so the large airport was relatively deserted and provided some privacy.

Rossi was the first to leave with a 10 o'clock flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. He shook hands with each person that he had spent the last month with. He informed an excited Reid that his newest book would be coming out within the next year. He also told his former team-mates, Hotch and Gideon, that if they ever needed a consultation on a case that he would be happy to provide some insight. In all honestly, he was having serious considerations about retuning to the BAU in the future and dealing with unfinished business.

Once Rossi boarded his plane, the remaining agents divided themselves into couples. Garcia and Morgan were exchanging playful banter, Gideon told JJ about the pros and cons of being an FBI agent, Elle and Reid whispered quietly to each other as they sat in the waiting area, and Hotch insisted on making sure that Emily was sure about going straight to Chicago instead of back to St. Louis.

"Hotch, it's okay, I'll go to my parent's place in Chicago, get settled in a place of my own, and then I'll go back to St. Louis to get my things," she explained.

He nodded. "Okay but you won't have anything besides your things that you brought to Washington."

She laughed lightly, "I have enough things."

"Are you sure?" He pestered.

"Yes!" She exclaimed. She was absolutely amazed by the amount of concern that he was showing.

"Okay, fine," he gave in. He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a business card. "If you need anything in Chicago, well, Morgan's going to be there, but Agent Scott Owens is a friend of mine," he told her as he passed her the card.

"I'll be fine," she smiled, "I am a grown woman."

He laughed awkwardly and felt slightly embarrassed all of the sudden. "I know, I apologize."

Meanwhile...

"So you charmed your way into the FBI?" Morgan teased.

Garcia laughed, "Yeah I guess that they were so afraid of me hacking their network that they just had to hire me."

He laughed as he flashed his perfect smile. "So you're going to be working with Reid, Hotch, and Gideon?"

She nodded, "Yeah and a couple other agents that I haven't met yet. But I get like eight computers," she exclaimed perkily. He laughed at her once again. "And I already have ideas on how I'm going to decorate my office."

"You gotta promise that you're going to put up at least one thing that reminds you of me."

"Like what?" She paused and thought to herself for a moment. "Oh I got it! That picture of me, you, and JJ that we took downtown Friday night!"

He smiled brightly, "Perfect." He chuckled before he turned serious, "You know that you can call me anytime right?"

She nodded and smiled. "I plan on it, and I'm sure that we'll be seeing each other in the future."

"Well it just so happens that I have career goals that led to the BAU, and I know that Elle and Emily do too, so maybe we'll all see each other in the future."

She smiled optimistically, "Yeah."

"American Airlines flight 109 to Chicago O'Hare is now boarding," they all heard one of the flight attendants announce.

"That's us Em!" Morgan called out.

Both Morgan and Emily hugged each of the women and shook hands with the men. At the last minute, Hotch gently grasped Emily's arm. She turned and looked at him curiously and all of the meaningful sentences running across his brain were overlooked for the overused and impersonal, "Good luck." She gave him a small smile before she began to walk alongside of Morgan towards their gate.

JJ glanced at her watch, by rights she should be leaving to go to the other side of the airport where her gate was but she couldn't tear herself away from the group of people. She wanted to be a permanent member of this family that they had formed. That sense of a family was one of the many things that had pushed her to fill out that application, which she had mailed this morning before leaving the hotel. She had high hopes of success but she knew what the statistics said. An almost minuscule percentage of applicants received that precious acceptance letter. But it was what she wanted more than anything. It was an extra confidence boost to hear from Rossi and Gideon that she deserved to get in and that she had already proven that she would be a fantastic agent.

"I should probably go to my gate now," she stated hesitantly.

"How come you're not flying to New York?" Garcia asked curiously.

"I'm going to visit my parents before I go back. I have a flight to Pittsburgh, and then I'll get the bus to East Allegheny," she explained.

"Okay, well I'll see ya later JJ," she said sadly as she opened her arms. JJ smiled brightly at the blonde before they hugged. "Call me," she mumbled.

"I will," JJ laughed.

"If I'm in New York any time soon I'll give you a call," Elle said as they hugged.

Reid gave her a tentative hug and she laughed. "Have a safe flight."

"Thanks Spence," she smiled. He looked at her in disbelief and it made her smile even brighter, it was the first time that anyone had called him Spence.

JJ shook hands with Hotch and Gideon before walking in the opposite direction as the others had to get their flights.

Reid sighed heavily as he sat back down; Elle was the only one left. The group was slowly dissolving. Garcia stood in a circle with Hotch and Gideon while he sat close to Elle. "When's your flight boarding?" He asked quietly.

"I would say in another 15 minutes or so," she answered plainly.

He leaned in and softly nuzzled her neck, for once not caring if others were watching or not. "Did you enjoy your weekend?" He asked in a whisper.

She turned to him and nodded. "Yeah I did," she answered honestly. She thought about how they had spent Friday night drinking, Saturday morning in bed, Saturday night at the movies, and had then returned to his apartment for another passionate night together. Then this morning, he had awoken her by bringing her breakfast in bed. "You're a really good date," she said smiling.

He gave her a timid smile in return. "Would it be okay if…" he abruptly stopped as his face turned crimson.

"What?" She inquired urgently.

His slender fingers scuttled across his own leg and onto hers where her hand was resting. He tentatively entwined their fingers but she didn't pull away. "Would it be okay if…if sometime…like when I was in Vegas…if I came to visit you…in Seattle…would that… would it be okay? If, ya know, I came to visit sometime?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I would like that, but don't take time off work or go out of your way or anything."

"Okay," he smiled.

"I'm really determined to be in the BAU someday," she told him quietly.

"Good," he responded happily.

She laughed lightly, "I'm really glad that I got to know you Dr. Reid."

"I feel the same way," he replied. He tilted his head and began to close the distance between them. His lips finally reached hers and he began to kiss her passionately as a hand found the side of her face. He gently stroked her cheek as he pulled back. "It was kind of the right moment," he explained shyly.

She quickly recovered from her brief period of shock and smiled. She blushed as she glanced at Garcia to see that the blonde had a large smirk on her face. She turned back towards Reid and pressed her lips against his. The 21-year-old genius was almost unbearably cute. He laughed lightly as he licked his lips after they had parted. "I like the taste of your lip gloss."

She laughed along with him. "Oh, I forgot to tell you something." An eyebrow rose in curiosity. "I wrote my name on your wall."

He laughed lightly, "What?"

"On your wall that you're doing your mural, I wrote my name in the top corner, you can barely see it…"

"I'm glad you did," he proclaimed excitedly.

"American Airlines flight 95 to Seattle-Tacoma is now boarding."

"That's me," Elle declared regretfully as she got to her feet.

Reid quickly got to his feet as well and began to sway back and forth nervously. "Well I'll…"

She cut him off by grabbing him by the collar of his dress shirt and pulling him in for a kiss. She broke away from him after a long, hot, passionate kiss and gave him a small smirk. "No talking." He simply nodded before he leaned in for another. "Goodbye," she said with a smile on her face after they had parted for air.

"Bye," he replied quietly.

Reid watched Elle say her goodbyes to Hotch, Gideon, and Garcia before she walked towards her gate. His stomach was churning and he felt like he was going to sick, it was the weirdest feeling that he had ever experienced. He wasn't yet ready to admit that he was going to miss her. He was going to miss her company and her intellect. He was going to miss the way that she smelled and the way that she kissed. He subconsciously ran through the year's calendar in his brain to pinpoint his next holiday.

Garcia felt almost as saddened as Reid. She had always hated saying goodbye to new friends. Morgan made her laugh, Emily made her think, and JJ made her smile. Even Rossi had had a positive effect on her; he had boosted her self-confidence with a rare compliment on her technical skills. Good people were hard to come by so she hated to see them leave. But hopefully by taking this new job in the BAU she could help to make a difference and grow close with Reid, Hotch, and Gideon.

Hotch felt incredibly annoyed as he replayed in his head his pathetic "Good luck." Emily deserved more than "Good luck." As these thoughts crossed his mind, the guilt began to set in. Why was he thinking these things when he had a wonderful wife at home? He immediately banished the notion that he was being emotionally unfaithful, as that was just foolish. She was a friend only.

Gideon smiled to himself as he envisioned the promising careers of the young people that he had watched board planes this morning. All of them were BAU bound for sure. Even Rossi had implied a dramatic return to the BAU; he just hoped that he was around when Dave finally worked up the courage to lay his demons to rest.

"Well, that's everyone," he said simply.

Hotch nodded. "Yup," he responded simply.

"This is, like, the weirdest feeling I've ever had," Garcia declared laughing.

"What do you mean?" Gideon asked curiously.

"It's like…" she started but Hotch read her mind and cut her off.

"Saying goodbye to someone you've known all your life?"

She nodded, "Yeah and…" this time she was cut off by Reid.

"Letting go of someone that you know you should have held onto?"

She nodded again. "Yeah, like a second family," she finished this time.

Gideon nodded and silence conquered the small area of the airport where they were standing before he turned around and began to walk out. He was quickly followed by Hotch. Reid and Garcia lingered a little while longer, staring out the window and onto the runways before also turning and leaving the airport.

**The End**

**A/N: To anyone who has followed this fic, please review and tell me what you thought of it as a whole and the ending, its hard to write a really good ending so let me know what you think.**


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